Department for Transport

Aviation: Crew

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department and the Civil Aviation Authority will consult on removing the ban on pilots who are over 65 years of age and otherwise fit and healthy from flying domestic commercial aircraft.

Paul Maynard: The UK has adopted upper age limits for both single and multi pilot Commercial Air Transport operations as set out in both EU legislation and International Civil Aviation Organisation standards. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has commissioned and published research on this matter and we will consider any proposals for change that are made by EASA.

Bus Services: Disability

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish guidance for bus operators relating to disability equality training.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Later in the year, the Department plans to publish best practice guidance on the provision of disability awareness training in the bus sector, which was informed by the experience of disabled passengers, bus operators and training providers. We hope that by sharing across the whole bus industry some of the good practice already benefiting passengers in many areas of the country, we will ensure that disabled passengers can board any service with confidence that the driver will provide them with the help they need. The Department publishes annual bus statistics which include an assessment of the proportion of local bus operators which require their staff to complete training consistent with the European Regulation. The most recent release indicated that 98% of drivers work for companies which fulfil this requirement

High Speed 2 Railway Line and East-West Rail Link

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet Colleagues on a potential intersection between East West Rail and High Speed 2; and what plans he has to implement a connection between those lines.

Paul Maynard: The HS2 and East West Rail lines are planned to intersect in the Calvert area to enable access to the HS2 Maintenance Depot from the East West Rail lines. There is no intention for any integration of passenger or freight services between the two lines.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 285402 and the 2019 Spending Review, what additional funding will be allocated for (a) walking and (b) cycling to meet Government targets for levels of activity in those areas.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government remains committed to the aims of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). The Department will confirm shortly with local authorities and others what funding will be available in 2020/21 for various Government-funded walking and cycling schemes. Longer-term funding decisions will be a matter for the autumn Budget and the 2020 Spending Review.

Rolling Stock: Modernisation

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to encourage the modernisation of train carriages.

Paul Maynard: The department sets out its requirements for passenger satisfaction in each franchise agreement. The passengers’ traveling environment contributes to passengers’ satisfaction scores. As part of the franchise competition process bidders are asked to submit proposals for initiatives to enhance rolling stock to deliver consistently high standards for passengers. This may be through refurbishment of existing rolling stock or the procurement of new trains.

Portsmouth International Port

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the  effect of Operation Transmission on the operation of the Port of Portsmouth in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department has been liaising with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum (LRF) for some time, and has recently shared with them new planning assumptions and analysis of the impact of a no deal Brexit on Portsmouth International Port. It is now for the LRF to consider how this impacts on their Operation Transmission traffic management plan and whether any amendments are required.

Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to monitor projected changes in the environmental costs of a third runway at Heathrow airport.

Paul Maynard: The Airports National Policy Statement was designated as government policy in June 2018 following the overwhelming support of MPs, but the Government is clear that expansion cannot come at any cost. The Airports National Policy Statement includes strict requirements that must be met, covering a range of environmental impacts from water and soil quality to biodiversity and habitats. For example, permission will only be granted if an applicant for development consent can demonstrate that the scheme would not materially impact the UK’s ability to meet its carbon reduction targets and that, with mitigation, it would be compliant with legal obligations on air quality. In regard to noise, the development consent application must also include a detailed assessment of how proposed noise mitigations will deliver against the Airports National Policy Statement requirement to limit – and where possible reduce – the impact of aircraft noise compared to the 2013 baseline assessed by the Airports Commission. An applicant for development consent will need to produce a detailed assessment of all environmental impacts of their scheme, including a robust and effective package of mitigation measures. This will be assessed by the Planning Inspectorate during examination, with input from statutory consultees such as Natural England and the Environment Agency. Should development consent be granted, the Planning Inspectorate will recommend an enforcement regime – with appropriate monitoring and reporting – to ensure that the scheme meets it environmental obligations.

London Airports: Construction

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefits of the construction of a second runway at Gatwick airport; and what comparative assessment he has made of those benefits with proposals to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Paul Maynard: The Airports National Policy Statement, designated in June 2018 following the overwhelming support of MPs, sets out how a Northwest Runway at Heathrow Airport will address the United Kingdom's airport capacity needs and maintain the nation's status as a global aviation hub. The Airports National Policy Statement details how a Northwest Runway scheme at Heathrow delivers a greater breadth of benefits more quickly than a second runway at Gatwick Airport across a range of passenger, economic and environmental measures. The Airports National Policy Statement, and all accompanying documents – including extensive analysis, are available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/airports-national-policy-statement

Air Travel Trust Fund

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was in the Air Travel Trust Fund in each of the last ten years.

Paul Maynard: The accounts of the Air Travel Trust Fund are publicly available and can be found online.

High Speed Two: Contracts

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate has he made of the stake held by (a) BlackRock and (b) Vinci in HS2 Ltd’s major contractors; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: HS2 Ltd is directly in contract with: - a Balfour Beatty / Vinci Joint Venture (BBV JV), for two packages of Main Works Civils Contracts; and - a Balfour Beatty / Vinci / Systra Joint Venture (BBVS JV), for the Old Oak Common station construction partner. They are both unincorporated joint ventures. HS2 Ltd has no contractual relationship with BlackRock.

Heathrow Airport: Carbon Emissions

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications of the expected increase in passenger numbers following the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport on the Government's target for net-zero emissions by 2050.

Paul Maynard: The Government recognises that climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face. Aviation needs to play its part in reaching net zero emissions and the Government is committed to setting a clear and appropriate level of ambition for the aviation sector. The Committee on Climate Change published its recommended approach to international aviation emissions on 24 September 2019. We are carefully considering this advice and we will respond to it when we publish a consultation on aviation and climate change shortly. The Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) was designated as government policy in June 2018 following an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons, but the Government is clear that expansion cannot come at any cost. The ANPS includes strict environmental requirements that must be met. In regard to climate change, the ANPS requires an applicant for development consent to demonstrate that it would not materially impact the UK’s ability to meet its carbon reduction targets, or expansion will not be able to proceed.

East Midlands Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the trajectory for the leasing costs of the new rolling stock on the East Midlands Railway over the course of the asset life of the trains after the award of the contract by operator Abellio to Hitachi on 30 July 2019.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The leasing costs of rolling stock during the franchise term are a matter for Abellio. Beyond the existing franchise, the retention of this rolling stock within the franchise and the associated leasing costs will be dealt with through a future re-franchising competition.

East Midlands Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the financing arrangements for the new fleet of rolling stock on the East Midlands Railway; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The financing arrangements of rolling stock are a matter for the operator, Abellio.

Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the long-term health effects of the construction of Heathrow Airport's proposed third runway on people living in the Thames Valley region (a) during and (b) after its construction.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport carried out a Health Impact Analysis as part of the Appraisal of Sustainability to support the Airports National Policy Statement. The Health Impact Analysis identified impacts which could affect people’s health, including noise, air quality and socio-economic impacts.The Government is clear that expansion cannot come at any cost and the Airports National Policy Statement sets out how any scheme promoter seeking to take forward an application for development consent is required to undertake a further project level Health Impact Assessment. Any application should propose measures which seek to maximise the health benefits of the scheme and mitigate any negative health impacts.The Airports National Policy Statement, and all accompanying documents – including extensive analysis, are available online.

London Airports

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the cost of flights from (a) an expanded Gatwick Airport with a second runway and (b) an expanded Heathrow Airport with the proposed north-west runway.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport,  what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed north-west runway at Heathrow airport will have on the price of commercial passenger flights in the south-east.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the construction of the North-West Runway at Heathrow airport will not, in real terms, increase the cost of flying from Heathrow Airport for passengers.

Paul Maynard: The Government is clear that expansion cannot come at any cost, and must be in the interest of the consumer. Fares are set by airlines after taking a wide range of factors into account, but it is the Government’s expectation that increased airline competition following expansion would help increase choice and reduce fares for passengers. Heathrow Airport Limited has committed to delivering expansion while keeping airport charges at close to 2016 levels in real terms. In its most recent assessment of affordability, the CAA stated that there are plausible scenarios in which this can be delivered. Government and the CAA will continue to hold industry to account to deliver expansion that is in the best interest of the consumer. The CAA has confirmed that this could include a small increase in airport charges if this were required to unlock the wider consumer benefits of expansion. In its Final Report, the Airports Commission also noted that the analysis it had commissioned suggested that expansion of either Heathrow or Gatwick would deliver competition benefits and that fares would be likely to remain unaffected or even to fall, even after an increase in airport charges. Competition benefits could be even greater for expansion at Heathrow, given the significant pent up demand at that airport. The Department has not conducted an assessment of Gatwick Airport Limited’s latest plans, on the basis that it will be for Gatwick Airport to prepare an economic case for any proposal, which the Planning Inspectorate would examine through the development consent process.

London Airports: Infrastructure

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the most recent estimate is of the forecasted cost to the taxpayer of surface infrastructure to (a) an expanded Heathrow with the proposed north-west runway and (b) an expanded Gatwick with a second runway by 2050.

Paul Maynard: On 25 October 2016 the Government announced that a Northwest Runway at Heathrow Airport, combined with a significant package of supporting measures, was its preferred scheme to deliver additional airport capacity in the South East of England. Parliament approved the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) in June 2018, which set out that for expansion of Heathrow Airport, responsibility for improving surface access sits with the applicant. The independent Airports Commission considered the potential surface access implications of three expansion schemes. Its final report was published in July 2015 and estimated the potential cost of surface access in relation to the scheme which had been proposed by Gatwick airport at £0.8bn. The Government published its Aviation Strategy 2050 consultation document in December 2018. Among other things, the document makes the case that airports are ‘unique’ multi-modal transport hubs, and should be recognised and treated as such. As the document sets out, the Government believes that the provision and funding of surface access infrastructure and services to airports is primarily the responsibility of the airport operator. But where there are significant non-airport public user benefits from changes and enhancements to the infrastructure and services, the Government has made clear it would consider making a funding contribution to reflect these.

London Airports: Social Costs

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the social costs of an expanded Heathrow Airport with a third runway compares with the social cost of an expanded Gatwick with a second runway.

Paul Maynard: The Airports National Policy Statement, which set out Government’s policy on the need for new airport capacity in the South East of England and the preferred location and scheme to deliver new capacity, was overwhelmingly approved by MPs in June of last year. To accompany the Airports National Policy Statement, an Appraisal of Sustainability was also published after being consulted upon, which assessed the three expansion schemes shortlisted by the independent Airports Commission in 2015, including the Gatwick scheme and the preferred Heathrow North West runway scheme. Amongst other things, the Appraisal of Sustainability assessed the effect of each scheme on community viability, including housing and community facilities, indirect and cumulative effects, and any disproportionate impacts on any individual social group. The Airports National Policy Statement, and all accompanying documents – including extensive analysis, are available online.

Lower Thames Crossing

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Highways England on funding for infrastructure upgrades to existing road infrastructure related to the Lower Thames Crossing project.

George Freeman: Aside from the Lower Thames Crossing project, Highways England is making improvements to the A2 in north Kent at the Bean and Ebbsfleet junctions. This A2 scheme is due to start works in 2019/20 and open for traffic in 2022/23. These changes will support development and growth in the region. Highways England is also working to forecast the impact of the Lower Thames Crossing on the wider network to inform decisions about which wider interventions may be needed and when. Any impacts on the Strategic Road Network and wider road network will be considered as part of the Lower Thames Crossing planning application (Development Consent Order). Highways England is continuing to work with Kent County Council and all other affected local highway authorities as it continues to develop the design of the Lower Thames Crossing. Although these interventions would not be funded or developed through the Lower Thames Crossing project, the information will be available to enable future investment decisions to be made. For the Strategic Road Network, these will be considered as part of future Road Investment Strategy periods. On the local highway network, Highways England is working with local highway authorities to provide forecasts of potential impacts and it will work with them to help them consider appropriate mitigation measures.

High Speed Two: Staff

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the number of archaeologists required for the construction of HS2; and what discussions he has had with archaeologists' professional bodies.

Paul Maynard: HS2 Ltd estimates that over 1,000 archaeologists, period specialists, scientists and conservators will be needed to deliver the HS2 archaeology programme. Neither myself, nor the Secretary of State, have discussed HS2 with archaeologists’ professional bodies directly. HS2 Ltd engages regularly with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and Historic England in relation to industry matters, including capacity and skills. This includes participating in the National Infrastructure Plan and Skills Capacity Working Group, chaired by Historic England.

Taxis: Licensing

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timescale is for tackling the issue of taxi drivers licensing in a local authority with less stringent standards to the local authority for their main area of trade.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to introduce minimum standards for taxis and private hire vehicles in England and Wales in accordance with the Government’s response to Report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government’s response to the Report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licencing, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislation on restricting cross-border and out of area journeys by taxis.

George Freeman: Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation. The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of the aviation industry to carbon emissions; and what plans his Department has to reduce emissions from the aviation industry.

George Freeman: The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy provide annual figures on UK greenhouse gas emissions, including those from domestic aviation. International aviation emissions are estimated based on bunker fuel use (this is the fuel used by aircraft when they refuel in the UK), but are not included in UK greenhouse gas accounting. There is currently no internationally agreed method of allocating international aviation carbon emissions between countries. The Government recognises that the fight against climate change is the greatest and most pressing challenge facing the modern world. International aviation emissions are a global problem that require a global solution. It is vital that we provide UK leadership to find an answer that does not simply displace emissions elsewhere across the globe. In December 2018, the Government published its Aviation 2050 green paper that supports a range of measures to achieve its 2050 vision, including efficiency improvements in technology, operations and air traffic management, use of renewable fuels and market-based measures. In addition, the Committee on Climate Change provided the Government with aviation specific advice on 24 September 2019. We are carefully considering this advice and its implications for Government policy and we will shortly publish a consultation on aviation and climate change.

Roads: Suffolk

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has had from Suffolk County Council on the proposed North Ipswich Route in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: Suffolk County Council has developed a Strategic Outline Business Case for the provision of a North Ipswich bypass. Transport East, the sub-national transport body for the region, submitted this to the Department for consideration under the Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme in July 2019.

A14: Freight

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on disruptions to freight traffic on the A14; and what estimate he has made of the cost of those disruptions to (a) hauliers and (b) other vehicles.

George Freeman: No formal assessment has been made by Highways England into disruptions to freight traffic on the A14 and they do not hold information in this form.

Roads: Suffolk

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Suffolk county council on the Ipswich northern route since 1 January 2019.

George Freeman: Since 1 January 2019, the Department has liaised with Suffolk County Council to support them in developing the evidence required to facilitate a thorough and efficient assessment of the proposed scheme. This has included analytical support to scheme promoters, in advance of Transport East submitting the scheme proposal to the Department on the County Council’s behalf in July 2019, and following this submission.

Roads: Finance

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average length of time was for his Department to respond to funding requests for new roads from local authorities.

George Freeman: The timing of ministerial decisions on funding, or not, for any particular road scheme depends on a range of factors. With significant funding involved, a key factor will be the assessment of value for money, but also how complex the scheme is and our confidence in it being delivered. It is not possible to give an average length of time for this process since business cases are submitted at different stages of development; some are highly advanced and others are still in their infancy.

Roads: Suffolk

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with Highways England on the Ipswich northern route.

George Freeman: The Department has worked collaboratively with Highways England in assessing the Ipswich Northern Route due to the scheme’s proximity to the A14 which is on the Strategic Road Network. Highways England was actively involved in the assessment of all submitted Major Route Network/ Large Local Major schemes.

Tyres: Standards

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ban tyres aged 10 years and over on (a) public service and (b) other vehicles.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the outcome is of his Department’s recent consultation on banning tyres aged 10 years and older on PSVs and other vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the response to his Department’s consultation entitled, Banning tyres aged 10 years and older, published in June 2019.

George Freeman: As stated in the consultation document published in June, the Government’s intention, subject to consideration of the views of consultees and any evidence provided by them, is to legislate against the use of tyres aged 10 years or older on heavy goods vehicles, heavy trailers, buses, coaches and minibuses. The consultation included the Government’s intention to consider extending the same requirements to taxis and private hire vehicles.The consultation closed on 1st September 2019 with over 1100 responses. The Department is currently analysing all responses prior to any decisions being taken.The Government expects to publish its response to this consultation this year.

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many inspections into the age of public service vehicle tyres have been carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: In the 12 months, up to 31st August 2019, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has undertaken 84,286 annual and roadside inspections of public service vehicles, including the age of their tyres.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Urban Areas

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any distributional analysis has been undertaken by (a) the Government and (b) HS2 Ltd of the passenger benefits that will accrue to towns in each region of the UK from High Speed Two.

Paul Maynard: A distributional analysis of the benefits from HS2 was conducted by HS2 Ltd in 2017 and provided to the Department as part of its ‘Economic Case Advice’. This could be found at Appendix 5 of this advice, and published at the following web address:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/628526/CS866_A_HS2_Phase_2a_Economic_case.pdf#page81

Ministry of Justice

Working Links: Insolvency

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support he can provide to charities and other organisations who have not been paid money owed to them as a result of Working Links going into administration.

Lucy Frazer: As set out in the Secretary of State’s Direction of 8 May and in the response to 275187, it was concluded, on this occasion, that it was reasonable for Government to protect Permitted Subcontractors who suffered losses as they relate to the collapse of Working Links and their Community Rehabilitation Companies. These organisations are directly involved in the delivery of vital frontline probation services. We have been very clear that this is a unique response to a unique and specific set of circumstances. This should not be viewed as setting a precedent for future scenarios.Of the ten permitted subcontractors that the Authority agreed to make payments to as per the Ministerial Direction of 8 May, nine have been paid to date. The invoice from the remaining permitted subcontractor is currently being reviewed as part of our due diligence process.  Contractors outside of the permitted subcontractor list should continue to pursue any financial claims through the Administrator. The Authority can assist in this process if required.

Judiciary: Public Appointments

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reform the process for making judicial appointments, including to the Supreme Court.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the Government's policy is on politically appointed judges.

Chris Philp: There are no plans to alter the process for making judicial appointments. Our judges are selected following a rigorous, independent, merit based process which is key to maintaining the quality, integrity and independence of our world class judiciary.

Disasters

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has been made on implementing the commitment in the Queen's Speech 2017 to introduce an independent public advocate who will (a) act for bereaved families after a public disaster and (b) support those families at public inquests; and if he will make a statement.

Wendy Morton: The Government is committed to doing all it can to support bereaved families after a public disaster and to ensure those families are supported during public inquests. We are continuing to consider the responses to the proposals for an Independent Public Advocate on which we consulted last year and will be publishing our plans for establishing the role in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Energy Supply

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which provider supplies energy to her Department; how much CO2 was emitted through her Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria her Department uses to select an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.

Kwasi Kwarteng: I am responding in relation the Departmental headquarters building at 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET, where most staff are based.Energy is supplied by Corona (gas) and EDF (electricity), and the total carbon emissions for 2018/19 was 2607.31 tonnes of CO2e. The Department does not hold the figure for how much of this specifically relates to energy consumption.The Department uses the Crown Commercial Services energy frameworks for the supply of utilities, which can be used to secure the supply of energy from renewable resources. The Department is committed to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment and achieving net zero emissions by 2025, which is why from 1 October 2019, electricity will be supplied solely from renewable resources. In addition, work is already underway to source the gas supply solely from renewable resources.The Department has established a cross-departmental programme of measures to achieve its net zero emissions commitment, including measures to increase energy efficiency, such as: replacing all lighting with LED bulbs managed by presence and daylight-saving monitors; and the installation of a fully automated energy management system.

Oil

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the effect on the energy supply of the downgrade in the forecast for oil demand growth in 2019.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Indigenous oil production was equivalent to around 70 percent of the UK’s oil demand in 2018 and plays an important role in meeting our energy needs. The UK also benefits from diverse sources of supply through access to a global market for crude oil and refined oil products. Growth in global oil demand is expected to be lower than originally forecast for 2019, helping to ensure there are healthy levels of global oil stocks and resilience to global oil supply disruptions.

Chippenham Power Station

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Chippenham Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of West Burton GT Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) decommissioning date is of Cottam Coal Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Didcot GT Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Little Barford GT Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Loch Carnan, South Uist Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Grain GT Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Sutton Bridge Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Shoreham Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Saltend Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Carrington Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Spalding Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Wilton GT Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Pilkington - Greengate Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) decommissioning date is of West Burton Coal Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) decommissioning date is of Aberthaw B Coal Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) decommissioning date is of Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) decommissioning date is of Ratcliffe Coal Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) decommissioning date is of Drax Coal Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Ballylumford B GT1 and GT2 Power Station; and what plans are in place to replace that capacity when the power station is decommissioned.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Generation capacity information for GB can be located on the TEC Register on the National Grid ESO website at https://www.nationalgrideso.com/document/149106/download Generation capacity information for NI can be located in the annual All-Island Generation Capacity Statement produced by the Transmission System Operators for Ireland and Northern Ireland, the most recent of which can be found at http://www.eirgridgroup.com/site-files/library/EirGrid/Generation_Capacity_Statement_2018.pdf The Capacity Market provides an effective mechanism for bringing forward capacity in GB as and when it is needed. The Capacity Market registers (available at https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/CM/Registers.aspx) provide a record of which capacity providers in GB have legal agreements requiring them to make their capacity available over coming years. Energy policy in Northern Ireland is largely a transferred (devolved) matter and a Capacity Market was introduced as part of the relaunched Single Electricity Market in October 2018. Decommissioning decisions are a commercial matter for the company concerned. Following consultation in November 2016 the Government confirmed its commitment to put an end to unabated coal power generation in GB from 2025.

Fuels: South East

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure fuel supplies for London and the South East in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Kwasi Kwarteng: If the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement, supplies of crude oil, fuel, and important chemicals for refineries are expected to remain available through the UK’s diverse supply chains from Europe and the rest of the world. The Government has been working closely with the fuel industry to minimise the risks from leaving the EU on fuel supplies. The Government also has a long-standing fuel supply contingency programme that includes measures that can be deployed in support of industry to maintain supplies.

Fuels: Prices

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure people on low-incomes will not be adversely affected by increased fuel prices in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government believes that it is essential that consumers get a fair deal and that a competitive market is the best way to keep prices low. Fuel pricing is subject to UK competition law, and I expect the Competition and Markets Authority to keep the market under review.Government provides support to help low income households with their energy costs. Over 2 million low income and vulnerable households will receive a rebate of £140 off their winter energy bill through the Warm Home Discount. In addition all pensioner households receive a Winter Fuel Payment of up to £300. Support to upgrade the energy performance of homes is also available through the Energy Company Obligation. Since 2018 this £640m per year scheme has been focused on low income and vulnerable households.The price of crude oil, traded through liquid international markets, is the main driver of changes in the national average retail prices of fuels such a petrol, diesel and heating fuels. Other factors include currency exchange rates and the balance of supply and demand for these fuels in the wholesale petroleum products markets. The UK benefits from a diverse range of import sources alongside UK domestic production and will continue to do so after we leave the EU.

Energy: Meters

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether customers will have the right to refuse the installation of smart meters in their homes after 2024.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Under current proposals the New and Replacement Obligation (NRO) will remain in place after 2024. The NRO requires energy suppliers to take all reasonable steps to install a smart meter where a meter is fitted for the first time, including in new build properties, or when an existing meter needs to be replaced. Under these proposals, consumers could choose not to have a smart meter. However, we expect the benefits of, amongst others, improved customer service, access to new products and services, and energy and bill savings will make smart meters the preferred choice for consumers.

Carbon Emissions: British Overseas Territories

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether her Department plans to include carbon emissions from UK Overseas Territories in its carbon accounting processes for the Paris Agreement.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if her Department will work with the UK Overseas Territories to reduce their carbon emissions as part of the UK’s (a) contribution towards the Paris Agreement and (b) Net Zero commitment.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Department is consulting with UK Overseas Territories as to whether they would like to have the UK’s ratification of the Paris Agreement extended to them. For those UK Overseas Territories that so choose, the Department will work with them to ensure they are ready to implement the Paris Agreement and to regularly report to the Department on that implementation. Under the accounting and transparency rules for the Paris Agreement agreed at COP24 in December 2018, any UK Overseas Territories included in the geographic scope of UK’s ratification of the Paris Agreement in future will also need to be included in the UK’s accounting for and regular reporting on emissions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The UK was the first major economy in the world to legislate for a net zero target. The target is enshrined under the Climate Change Act 2008 which does not apply to UK Overseas Territories.

Fuels

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether she has made an assessment of the potential risk to the UK's future fuel security should the UK become reliant on Russian or Middle Eastern petrol in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Kwasi Kwarteng: If the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement, supplies of crude oil, fuel, and important chemicals for refineries are expected to remain available through the UK’s diverse supply chains from Europe and the rest of the world. Crude oil and petroleum products are traded through liquid international markets. The Government has been working closely with the fuel industry to minimise the risks from leaving the EU on fuel supplies. The Government also has a long-standing fuel supply contingency programme that includes measures that can be deployed in support of industry to maintain supplies.

Fuels: Prices

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the potential effect on fuel prices of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Kwasi Kwarteng: BEIS analysis is that changes in the price of crude oil are the main driver of changes in the national average retail prices of fuels such a petrol and diesel. Other factors include currency exchange rates and the balance of supply and demand for these fuels in the wholesale petroleum products markets. Crude oil and petroleum products are traded through liquid international markets. The UK benefits from a diverse range of import sources alongside UK domestic production and will continue to do so after we leave the EU.

Fuels

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions, what assessment she has made of the probability of disruption to fuel supplies in each (a) nation and (b) region in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready to leave the European Union from day one in all scenarios, including in the event of Brexit without a withdrawal agreement. Operation Yellowhammer planning assumptions are not a prediction of what is going to happen, but reflect a responsible Government preparing for a reasonable worst-case scenario. The Government believes that in most circumstances the fuel industry is well positioned to respond to disruptions to the supply chain from whatever cause. In addition, Government has a long-standing fuel supply contingency programme that can be deployed in support of industry to maintain fuel supplies as close to normal levels as possible.

Small Businesses: East Yorkshire

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that small businesses in East Yorkshire are prepared for the UK leaving the EU.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Indonesia: Fires

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government has provided to help tackle the fires on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The British Government is concerned about the fires in Indonesia’s forests and peatlands. They are causing extensive damage at both local and regional level, and contributing to global carbon emissions.The British government is engaged with authorities in Indonesia, through our Embassy in Jakarta, to find long term solutions on fire prevention. We are also looking at peatland protection and restoration on Sumatra and Kalimantan, the regions where most fires occur.​

China: Surveillance

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of which risk factors can cause a person to receive a (a) yellow and (b) red designation under the mass surveillance and suspect profiling system of the Chinese Government in Xinjiang.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We follow the situation in Xinjiang closely and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials regularly travel to the region to attempt to verify reports about the restrictions targeted at specific ethnic groups; they most recently visited in May 2019. We are not aware of individuals receiving 'yellow' or 'red' designations in Xinjiang and we have limited insight into the Chinese government's risk assessment system. However, we have serious concerns about the human rights situation in the region where the measures being taken are disproportionate and indiscriminate. We are aware of credible reports of widespread surveillance, ethnic and religious profiling, and restrictions on the ability to practice religion freely.

China: Minority Groups

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the extent of detention on the basis of allegations made against family members among the Uighur and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, China.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We do not have reliable figures to estimate of the number of forced confessions for terrorism-related offences in detention camps in Xinjiang, China in the last three years, nor the extent of detention on the basis of allegations made against family members of religious minority groups. However, we have repeatedly highlighted the credible reports of over a million Uyghurs and other minorities being detained in so called “re-education camps”, along with widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at minorities.

China: Human Rights

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for (a) human rights and (b) the rule of law of the risk assessment system used by the Chinese Government in Xinjiang.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We follow the situation in Xinjiang closely and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials regularly travel to the region to attempt to verify reports about the restrictions targeted at specific ethnic groups; they most recently visited in May 2019. We are not aware of individuals receiving 'yellow' or 'red' designations in Xinjiang and we have limited insight into the Chinese government's risk assessment system. However, we have serious concerns about the human rights situation in the region where the measures being taken are disproportionate and indiscriminate. We are aware of credible reports of widespread surveillance, ethnic and religious profiling, and restrictions on the ability to practice religion freely.

Diplomatic Service: British Nationals Abroad

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many requests have been made for consular assistance by UK citizens since 2014.

Andrew Stephenson: ​Since 2014, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has handled over 131,000 new Consular assistance cases and issued more than 182,000 emergency travel documents to British nationals who have had their passports stolen, lost, damaged or were otherwise unavailable. The FCO has responded to over 1,800,000 Consular telephone enquiries over the same period.

Kashmir: Prisoners

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Indian counterpart on reports that 13,000 boys have been detained in Kashmir since its autonomous status was revoked on 5 August 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are following the serious situation in Kashmir closely. The continued use of detentions is worrying. We have raised our concerns with the Indian Government: the Prime Minister has discussed the situation with Prime Minister Modi and the Foreign Secretary has also discussed it with his counterpart Dr Jaishankar.

Kashmir: Armed Conflict

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to work towards the de-escalation of tensions over the situation in Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are following the situation in Kashmir closely and are in regular contact with both the Indian and Pakistani Governments. The Prime Minister has spoken to Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Imran Khan about the situation and the Foreign Secretary has also raised his concerns with his Indian counterpart Dr Jaishankar.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with his international counterparts on the situation in Yemen at the UN General Assembly.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK has played a leading role in diplomatic efforts, including bringing together key international actors to try to find a peaceful solution. On 26 September, the UK co-hosted a political event at the UN General Assembly to coordinate the international community’s support for the UN-led peace process and endorse the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths’ plan to begin wider political discussion.

Human Rights

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage other countries to support greater accountability for violations of (a) international humanitarian and (b) human rights law.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Support for international criminal justice and international humanitarian law is a fundamental element of the UK's foreign policy. The UK believes that justice and accountability for the most serious international crimes are crucial to building lasting peace and security. In line with these principles, the British Government has supported the strengthening of a number of mechanisms to enable justice and accountability for the most serious international crimes.We work through the multilateral system not only to support the implementation of agreed standards on human rights, democracy and the rule of law; but also to hold countries to account when they violate those standards. For example, in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) the UK was instrumental in invoking the Moscow Mechanism in response to the serious human rights violations in Chechnya. The UK has been vocal in both the OSCE's Permanent Council and the Human Dimension Committee in its criticism of those participating states that fail to uphold universally agreed principles. Similarly, in the Council of Europe the UK has consistently challenge those member states that fail to meet their obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, including the execution of judgements by the Court.The UK, as a State Party to the Rome Statute, provides financial, political and practical support to the International Criminal Court. We are one of the largest contributors to the Court, contributing £9.7m in 2018. The UK, together with a number of other States Parties, is proposing a number of actions to strengthen the Court to help it to fulfil its mandate under the Rome Statute. These will be discussed at the Assembly of States Parties in December. Our goal is to improve the Court's ability to deliver justice for victims of atrocity crimes that fall under its jurisdiction.

Bahrain: Embassies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Bahraini counterpart on reports of violent incidents at the British Embassy in that country.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are not aware of any recent reports of violent incidents at the British Embassy in Bahrain. We have a close relationship and where we have concerns we are able to raise them with the Government of Bahrain. ​

Cabinet Office

Government: Internet

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the availability of documents on the gov.uk website in alternative digital formats for people with disabilities.

Simon Hart: GOV.UK has a key role in ensuring the UK public sector meets its accessibility standards, leading by example and providing the necessary support to departments who own services on GOV.UK. Government departments publish documents on GOV.UK in a range of formats; to make these available to the widest range of people we take steps to ensure the documents are accessible. This approach ensures that accessibility is at the core of our standards for building and maintaining content.We work to update existing documents in non-accessible formats, and ensure new documents meet the requirements of The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Documents published before 23rd September 2018 are currently exempt from accessibility regulations and may not be accessible. However, we update these on a case by case basis, and alternative formats are provided on request through GOV.UK. Alternative formats (such as audio, Braille, Moon, British Sign Language interpreted versions) are provided in accordance with reasonable adjustments under Equality Act 2010 upon request.

Government: Internet

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make all documents on the gov.uk website available in alternative digital formats.

Simon Hart: Government departments publish documents on GOV.UK in a range of formats. To ensure these are available to the widest range of people we publish in accessible formats where possible. Ensuring accessibility includes publishing in HTML, tagging all parts of the document properly for screen readers, including alt text alongside non-decorative images, avoiding tables except when presenting data and writing in plain English.We work to update existing documents in non-accessible formats, and ensure new documents meet the requirements of The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Documents published before 23rd September 2018 are currently exempt from accessibility regulations and may not be accessible. However, we update these on a case by case basis, and alternative formats are provided on request through GOV.UK. Alternative formats (such as audio, Braille, Moon and British Sign Language interpreted versions) are provided in accordance with reasonable adjustments under Equality Act 2010 upon request.

Office for Veterans' Affairs: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff will be allocated to work for the Office for Veterans' Affairs.

Oliver Dowden: At the 2019 Spending Round £5million was committed for the Office for Veterans' Affairs in 2020/2021. The staffing requirements for the Office for Veterans’ Affairs remain under consideration and will be confirmed in due course.

Rapid Response Unit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Rapid Response Unit is involved in the Get ready for Brexit campaign.

Kevin Foster: The Rapid Response Unit was established in 2018 to identify and rebut disinformation and misinformation, as well as increasing the visibility of government information so it is more accessible to the public. This includes all government communications on core policy areas, including Brexit.

Civil Servants: Disciplinary Proceedings

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what sanctions apply to civil servants on the offence of misconduct in public office.

Kevin Foster: Misconduct in public office is an indictable offence under common law, and anyone considered to be a public officer (including civil servants) accused of such an offence could be tried before a jury in a Crown Court. Any sanction imposed by the courts would be determined by the nature and severity of the case and subject to any minimum or maximum penalty thresholds relating to the specific offence being tried.All civil servants are also subject to departmental conduct policies and the Civil Service Code which requires them to act with integrity, impartiality, honesty and objectivity. Breaches of the Civil Service Code will be the subject of internal disciplinary action.

Cabinet Office: Data Protection

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how information and data in the Cabinet Office or Government Digital Service which is collected centrally or shared by Departments is held; what the security clearance required to access such data is; who has access to such data; and what measures are in place to ensure such data does not leave the Cabinet Office.

Simon Hart: The Government Digital Service (GDS) and the wider Cabinet Office take their responsibilities in relation to the handling of data extremely seriously. We always take into account both the data protection regime and other guidance like the Government’s Data Ethics Framework.Different types of data and information are stored in different ways in accordance with our information assurance policies. In relation to the specific project to join up performance analytics across the GOV.UK estate, GDS has created a separate account within its existing Google Analytics account to hold the anonymised performance data collected from GOV.UK services managed by other government departments. Data within the two accounts is not linked together.Currently Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) cleared personnel working on the project have access to this anonymised data. BPSS is the minimum required security clearance, and access is granted on a case-by-case basis to further ensure that only appropriate people have access to the data. Data is stored in an encrypted format when it is in transit between service systems and the centralised Google Analytics account, and when stored in the account data store. These measures, together with GDS’s secure by default approach ensure that no data will leave the Cabinet Office by accident or malicious intent.

Government Communication Service: Brexit

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government Communications Service is taking to ensure that (a) transparency and (b) the values of the civil service code are maintained through effective governance of communications on the UK's departure from the EU.

Kevin Foster: As with all Government communications activity, the highest professional standards are adhered to. The ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign is a cross-government campaign coordinated by the Cabinet Office, DExEU and No.10. It will be delivered by the Government Communications Service.The purpose of the GCS is to deliver world-class public service communications that support ministers’ priorities, enable the efficient and effective operation of public services, and improve people’s lives.The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all civil servants. The Government Communication Propriety Guidance gives information to all members of the GCS. It is also available through this link: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Government-Communication-Propriety-Guidance-Feb-16-1.pdf The Government Communications Functional Standard GovS0.11, underpinned by extensive GCS guidance and resources, sets the expectations for the management and practice of government communications. The Functional Standard is available here: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/180808-GovS011-Comms-Standard-Approved-1.0.pdf

Cabinet Office: Anomaly

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has (a) awarded a commercial contract to and (b) purchased digital services from (i) Anomaly LLP and (ii) Anomaly UK London Ltd in the last six months.

Simon Hart: Cabinet Office records show that the Department has not awarded a commercial contract to, or purchased digital services from Anomaly LLP or Anomaly UK London Ltd in the last six months.Records of central Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

CDL Group

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is (a) the nature of services purchased by the Government from CDL Group, (b) the value of the contract, (c) the length of the contract, (d) the process by which the contract was awarded and (e) whether any interests were declared by Ministers and civil servants, including special advisers, in relation to the award of the contract.

Simon Hart: Records of central Government contracts above £10,000 and information on how they are awarded are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Census: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Sikhs who did not identify themselves as either religious or ethnically Sikh in the 2011 census.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 53.89 KB)

Government Chief Digital Information Officer

Jo Platt: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the working relationship will be between the Chief Digital Information Officer and the Chief Data Officer.

Simon Hart: The Government Chief Digital and Information Officer (GCDIO) will lead HMG’s 17,000 strong DDaT community and be responsible for shaping and delivering HMG’s innovation and transformation strategies, the Chief Data Officer will work with the GCDIO to deliver this agenda.

Cabinet Office: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings his Department has had with Liverpool City Council on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings his Department has had with Knowsley Borough Council on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Kevin Foster: Local government plays a vital role in preparing the country to be fully ready for Brexit on 31 October.We have stepped up our preparedness significantly and speak regularly to councils and partners, including through the Local Government Brexit Delivery Board and a network of nine regional chief executives. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government leads this engagement.Every council has designated a Brexit Lead Officer to work with central government to intensify their local preparations and, in total, we have made £77 million available to help local areas get ready for Brexit.

Brexit: Publicity

Justin Madders: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the postcodes where adverts for the Get Ready for Brexit campaign have been placed.

Kevin Foster: “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign that provides the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the preparations they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU.The campaign uses national advertising including TV, radio, press, digital and outdoor advertising.There are no plans to publish the postcodes where adverts for the Get Ready for Brexit campaign have been placed, but the government is clear in its duty to help the public and businesses across the UK prepare, regardless of location.

Brexit: Publicity

Layla Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of the Get ready for Brexit advertising campaign (a) online and (b) in other forms in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Scotland, and (v) Northern Ireland.

Layla Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of the Get Ready for Brexit advertising campaign (a) online and (b) in other forms in (i) the North East, (ii) the North West, (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber, (iv) the West Midlands, (v) the East Midlands, (vi) East Anglia, (vii) the South West, (viii) the South East and (ix) London.

Kevin Foster: In law the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign providing the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the preparations they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU.The campaign is a cross-government campaign using national advertising including TV, radio, press, digital and outdoor advertising. It also includes direct engagement and local elements including business preparedness events, ministerial visits and local authority activity.The cost of the public information campaign will be published monthly on a rolling basis, as part of routine government transparency arrangements.

Tees Valley: Brexit

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect on (a) Stockton-on-Tees and (b) Teesside of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Simon Hart: The Government continues to engage across all regions of the country to ensure that the country as a whole is ready for Brexit. It is a UK Government priority to ensure preparedness across both the country and the economy, including through working closely with local government. These issues are discussed regularly by Cabinet and its committees, including the European Exit Operations Committee.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Electoral Commission's report entitled Accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers in Great Britain, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of additional ring-fenced funding for the purpose of increasing electoral register completeness for 18-34 year olds.

Kevin Foster: Since 2013/14, the Government has provided more than £27m to fund diverse activities by EROs, civil society groups and others to promote electoral registration and democratic engagement, including with younger people.The Government does not support ring-fenced funding for the registration of 18-34 year-olds. Under a long-standing protocol, the majority of funding provided to local authorities is not ring-fenced. Democratically elected local authorities are best placed to determine the allocation of funds within their area.Younger people are keen users of the Government’s online register to vote service. Ahead of the General Election in June 2017 young people aged under 25 submitted over 1 million applications to register to vote - more than 35 percent of all applications received in the pre-election period.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Electoral Commission's report Accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers in Great Britain, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the disparity between electoral register completeness of voters from white ethnic backgrounds and those from other ethnic backgrounds.

Kevin Foster: The Government is committed to protecting, promoting and respecting our democracy. We want to build upon recent record levels of electors registering to vote and participating in elections. Since 2013/14, the Government has provided more than £27m to fund diverse activities by EROs, civil society groups and others to promote electoral registration and democratic engagement.The Cabinet Office has recently published the findings of a project investigating the barriers to registration for under-registered groups, including some minority ethnic backgrounds.This evidence is available along with other resources on GOV.UK to assist Electoral Registration Officers and others to better understand why some ethnic minorities are less likely to be registered and to target them more effectively.The Government is also taking action to reform the annual canvass of all residential properties in Great Britain. These reforms will significantly improve the overall efficiency of the canvass process and allow Electoral Registration Officers to focus their efforts on activities including the targeting of under-registered groups.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Electoral Commission's report Accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers in Great Britain, what assessment his Department has made of the factors influencing the increase in electoral register entries with major errors from 2015 to 2019.

Kevin Foster: The Government will review the Electoral Commission’s report in detail and consider its conclusions.The Government is taking action to reform the annual canvass of all residential properties in Great Britain. These reforms will significantly improve the overall efficiency of the canvass process and allow Electoral Registration Officers to focus their efforts on where change has occurred. This will play an important role in helping them maintain the accuracy and completeness of their registers.

Conservative Party: Conferences

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any funds from the public purse (a) have been and (b) will be spent on transport to or from the 2019 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester for Government Ministers.

Kevin Foster: The Ministerial Code sets out the approach to Ministerial Travel. It is for individual departments to make transport arrangements for Ministers travelling on Government business, including to meet their parliamentary duties.

Electronic Government: Data Protection

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will (a) publish the memorandum of understanding between the Government Digital Service and Government departments on data ethics and compliance that enables cross tracking of Gov.UK, (b) state which Departments and non-departmental bodies the MOU was sent to and (c) set out the departments and non-departmental public bodies that have agreed the MOU.

Simon Hart: The Government Digital Service (GDS) is implementing end-to-end performance monitoring so that GOV.UK can be designed to ensure that people can access the information and services they need as easily as possible. Government departments are enabling GDS to centrally collect data on site usage across the GOV.UK estate, to provide an end to end, anonymised view of how people interact with government online. In developing this project, we have taken into account both the data protection regime and other guidance like the Government’s Data Ethics Framework.We are using clear and robust Memorandums of Understanding to set out the terms of the project. The MOUs outline the responsibilities of both the GDS and departments in a number of areas, including handling the relevant data to ensure there is no unauthorised access, loss, misuse, modification or disclosure.The MoUs were sent to the following departments: the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Department for Education (DfE), the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), the Department for Transport (DfT), the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), HM Treasury (HMT), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for International Trade (DfID), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Cabinet Office (CO) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). We have received signed MOUs from all Departments apart from FCO, CO, DWP and DCMS as we are still working through some points of detail, to facilitate their response.The MoUs will be regularly updated in line with the government’s commitment to continuous improvement in digital services and best practice in data and privacy standards. It is a long standing policy of the Government Digital Service to operate in the spirit of full transparency, and we plan to publish the document in due course.

Government Departments: Brexit

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much is being spent by each Department in the Get ready for Brexit campaign; and whether the media buying for this campaign is taking place by OMD Group Ltd under the Crown Commercial Services for media buying services.

Kevin Foster: In law, the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign providing the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the preparations they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU.The campaign is a cross-government campaign using national advertising including TV, radio, press, digital and outdoor advertising. It also includes direct engagement and local elements including business preparedness events, ministerial visits and local authority activity.The cost of the public information campaign will be published monthly on a rolling basis, as part of routine government transparency.For maximum economies of scale, media for all Government campaigns is bought centrally through a new Crown Commercial Service framework with Manning Gottlieb OMD. The framework maximises value for the UK taxpayer through robust pricing guarantees that are defined for the life of the contract and rates which are benchmarked against other public and private sector organisations.

Department of Health and Social Care

Antibiotics: Prescriptions

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of prescriptions for antibiotics issued in the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years; and what proportion of those patients were subsequently admitted to hospital.

Jo Churchill: Data on the proportion of patients with an antibiotic prescription who were subsequently admitted to hospital are not available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Energy Supply

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to selecting an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not set selection criteria for its energy suppliers. Energy is provided by suppliers selected by Crown Commercial Services and the suppliers are currently EDF and Corona. In 2018/19 the Department produced 2,987.64 tonnes of CO2 through energy consumption. The Department has an ongoing programme of initiatives to reduce emissions.

Dietary Supplements

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of benefits of the use of (a) prebiotics and (b) probiotics in the NHS.

Jo Churchill: The Department’s Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) has made an assessment of the benefits of the use of prebiotics and probiotics.NHS England and NHS Improvement, in partnership with NHS Clinical Commissioners, carried out a public consultation between December 2017 and March 2018 on reducing prescribing of over the counter medicines for minor, short-term health concerns. Probiotics were included in the consultation proposals as items of limited clinical effectiveness which are of high cost to the National Health Service.Following the consultation, in March 2018, NHS England published guidance for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on conditions for which over the counter items should not routinely be prescribed in primary care. This guidance included a recommendation advising CCGs that probiotics should not be routinely prescribed in primary care given the limited evidence of clinical effectiveness. The clinical working group advised that there is currently insufficient clinical evidence to support prescribing of probiotics within the NHS for the treatment or prevention of diarrhoea of any cause.

Genetic Engineering

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the suitability of NICE's process of medicines appraisal for new cell and gene therapies.

Jo Churchill: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods it uses in the development of its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies recommendations. In March 2016, NICE published a summary report of work undertaken in collaboration with the University of York on the assessment and appraisal of regenerative medicines and cell therapy products. This is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/media/default/about/what-we-do/science%20policy%20and%20research/regenerative-medicine-study-march-2016.pdf

Measles: Disease Control

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the UK regains its measles free status.

Jo Churchill: In January 2019 Public Health England, Public Health Wales, The Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and Health Protection Scotland published the United Kingdom Measles and Rubella elimination strategy at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-and-rubella-elimination-uk-strategyNHS England and NHS Improvement, the Department and Public Health England are implementing the actions of the strategy, working with key national and local stakeholders, for example, local screening and immunisation teams. Recent examples of actions include a new catch-up vaccination programme for 10 and 11 year olds through general practitioner practices, communications campaigns targeting festival goers and students, and local initiatives led by local teams to address inequalities in vaccine uptake.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 287463 tabled on 5 September 2019 by the hon. Member for Halton.

Edward Argar: NHS England advise that they do not expect the total funding for Halton and Warrington clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to change if the two organisations are merged.The CCG allocations for 2019/20 to 2021/22 were set on a firm basis, with the final two years being indicative. NHS England reserves the right to reopen allocations in some circumstances.The circumstances under which allocations can be reopened are set out at Annex C of the NHS England Board Paper PB.31.01.2019/04. Which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/04-pb-31-01-2019-ccg-allocations-board-paper.pdf

Biological Standardization Expert Committee: Publications

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Report No. 1016 of the WHO Technical Report Series, what the timeframe is for the publication of Report No. 1015 to be published; and if he will place an interim copy of that report in the Library.

Jo Churchill: The World Health Organization is responsible for the publication of the Technical Report Series and places the reports on its website as appropriate when they are available.

Whipps Cross University Hospital

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations he has received on the need to redevelop Whipps Cross Hospital.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when a decision will be made on the capital investment bid submitted to NHSI by Barts Health NHS Trust for the redevelopment of Whipps Cross Hospital.

Edward Argar: A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database from the last six months has identified no items of correspondence received on the need to redevelop Whipps Cross Hospital.On 29 September the Government announced the next stage in our strategic investment in the National Health Service, with the Health Infrastructure Plan to ensure that our health infrastructure is fit-for-purpose for decades to come. The Plan forms the most ambitious rolling programme of investment in health infrastructure and hospital building in recent decades, and a new, strategic approach to improving our hospitals and health infrastructure.Whipps Cross Hospital’s major scheme is one of the six projects that will form the first £2.7 billion phase of the major hospital rebuilds. This gives the green light for the Redevelopment of Whipps Cross Hospital Scheme, to deliver a brand new hospital at Whipps Cross, providing a range of services including, emergency and maternity as well as specific outpatient, diagnostic, surgical and support for intensive care services.

General Practitioners: Redbridge

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve the GP to patient ratio in the London Borough of Redbridge; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: There is no recommendation for how many patients a general practitioner (GP) should have as the demand each patient places on their GP is different and can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. When considering the ratio of GPs to patients it is important to consider GPs as part of the wider multidisciplinary team. Getting the skills mix right in general practice is critical in addressing workload pressures as well as in delivering appropriate patient care. NHS England has committed to providing funding towards up to 20,000 additional staff by 2023/24.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of women with a disability attended cervical cancer screening in the NHS in the last period for which information is available.

Jo Churchill: Information on how many and what proportion of women with a disability have attended cervical cancer screening through the National Health Service is not held centrally by NHS England.The latest uptake figures for cervical cancer screening show that 71.7% of the eligible population, or 3.2 million women, were screened for cervical cancer in 2017–18.

HIV Infection

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September to Question 286636 on HIV infection, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people diagnosed with HIV at a late stage of infection.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) commissions HIV Prevention England programme and one of its objectives is to increase HIV testing to reduce undiagnosed infection and late diagnoses. PHE, in partnership with local authorities commissions the National HIV Self-Sampling Service providing an online HIV testing service. Since 2015 nearly 90,000 people have used the service.PHE published key messages for healthcare professionals in the 2018 HIV in the United Kingdom report outlining measures to increase HIV testing and reduce undiagnosed infection, these complement other national guidelines. PHE also provides late HIV diagnosis data to local authorities to monitor local patterns and take action.

British Nationals Abroad: Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions paragraph 11iii, what additional funding his Department has allocated to help (a) pensioners, (b) students, (c) workers and (d) travellers in EU countries access healthcare in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Edward Argar: The Government issued a press release on 23 September 2019, setting out the transitional healthcare arrangements that the Department has put in place to protect access to healthcare for UK-insured individuals if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a deal. These arrangements will come into operation in a ‘no deal’ scenario, in the absence of an EU-wide solution or bilateral reciprocal healthcare arrangements with individual Member States.The ultimate cost of these arrangements will depend on which Member States accept the Government’s offer to continue the current reciprocal healthcare arrangements for a transitional period until 31 December 2020. Based on detailed analysis undertaken by the Department, the estimated maximum expenditure that the Government expects to make for these arrangements is £50 million in 2019/20 and £100 million in 2020/21.I laid a Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1832 on 26 September 2019, which sets out the details of these transitional arrangements.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors: Sexual Dysfunction

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken, in light of the European Medicines Agency formally declaring that it recognises Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) as a medical condition that can outlast discontinuation of SSRI and SNRI antidepressants, to provide symptomatic relief to those suffering from that condition on a long-term basis.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not formally recognised Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) as a medical condition, as it is not within the remit of the EMA to classify medical conditions.The EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee evaluated the available safety data on the risk of sexual disorders with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors/serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors to establish whether the existing information about the possible side effect of sexual dysfunction fully reflected the available evidence. The review did not include an evaluation of whether PSSD is a specific medical condition.

GP Surgeries: Capital Investment

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding for capital investment is being made available for GP surgery expansion and refurbishment by (a) constituency, (b) local authority and (c) region.

Jo Churchill: The information requested on capital investment made available for general practitioner surgery expansion and refurbishment is not held centrally in the format required and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Food: Charities and Pressure Groups

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) dates, (b) attendees and (c) topics of meetings his Department has had with representatives of food and drink charities and campaign groups in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019; and if he will publish the (A) content discussed and (B) decisions made in those meetings.

Jo Churchill: The attached table shows meetings between Departmental officials in the Obesity, Food and Nutrition Team and the Healthy Behaviours Team and representatives of food and drink charities and food and drink campaign groups in 2018 and 2019 and the content discussed. The names of Senior Civil Servants and external attendees at an equivalent or higher grade from these organisations are provided, and the job title of attendees below this grade. No decisions were taken at any of these meetings.   



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Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Energy Supply

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to selecting an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID’s UK estate comprises two joint-headquarters, 22 Whitehall in London and Abercrombie House in Glasgow. DFID’s current energy suppliers for both offices are EDF Energy for electricity and Corona for gas. DFID’s energy providers are selected through Crown Commercial Service (CCS) central Government frameworks, ensuring value for money and sustainability. In 2018-19, DFID’s UK estate produced 1,396 tonnes CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) from energy consumption, as detailed in DFID’s 2018-19 Annual Report and Accounts. DFID’s greenhouse gas emissions in the UK estate have fallen by 63% since 2009-10. DFID is on track to exceed the Greening Government Commitment (GGC) target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by end of financial year 2019-20, compared to our 2009-10 baseline. Reductions in energy consumption have been achieved through various initiatives including; introducing a green roof and biomass boiler in Abercrombie House, improving the insulation in Abercrombie House, installing Automated Meter Reading equipment to help identify energy saving opportunities and increasing staff awareness and engagement through campaigns. DFID participates in the Government’s mandatory CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme to offset greenhouse gas emissions produced by our UK estate. DFID is committed to the Government’s 25 Year Environmental Plan. We continue to look for ways to improve our internal efficiencies in line with our wider commitments on climate change and our ambition to achieve the Global Goals by 2030.

Developing Countries: Living Wage

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding his Department has allocated to programmes supporting the payment of living wages in global value chains; and whether that funding is supporting workers in the cocoa sector.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID is investing more than £1.2 billion in bilateral agriculture programmes, many of which support smallholders in global value chains, including cocoa. DFID does not categorise its programme spend according to the nature of different value chains given the significant additional burden this would place on projects if the data was to be robust. DFID is a founding member of the Living Income Community of Practice and is partnering with the UN Foundation, CARE, and the Fourth Sector Group, to explore how we can encourage the growth of more “for benefit” businesses in the cocoa supply chain. It also supports the Ethical Trade Initiative to improve worker’s rights in global supply chains. This includes working with companies to improve the application of human rights and providing direct remediation of labour rights violations for vulnerable workers.

Developing Countries: Living Wage

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's Economic Development Strategy, what steps he is taking to track progress towards the achievement of living incomes in developing countries.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID tracks progress on living incomes for the poor through global progress against the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) – to deliver sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. DFID measures the contribution its projects make by reporting on the “Number of people supported to have raised incomes and better jobs or livelihoods”. This includes beneficiaries who we have supported to raise their income, which alone amounted to 2.2 million people between 2015/16 and 2018/19.

Kashmir: Earthquakes

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Kashmir following the earthquake on 24 September 2019.

Alok Sharma: DFID has been liaising closely with the Government of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) since the earthquake struck on 24 September 2019. Key humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, met with the NDMA to discuss the response to the earthquake on Friday 27 September. The NDMA confirmed that the Government of Pakistan will not launch any formal appeal or request for National or International Assistance, but donors and agencies can provide assistance on a voluntary basis. DFID stands ready to respond and the Natural Disaster Consortium partners have pre-positioned supplies which can be deployed at short notice.

Nigeria: Non-governmental Organisations

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to reports of the army expelling international NGOs from Nigeria, what assessment he has made of the ability of humanitarian organisations to carry out their activities in Nigeria.

Alok Sharma: We are extremely concerned that the Nigerian Army has closed the offices of Action against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. NGOs in the North East of Nigeria, including Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps, provide millions of people with crucial, life-saving assistance. When these organisations are forced to withdraw it has a huge impact on the lives of the most vulnerable. We have urged the Government of Nigeria to complete their investigations swiftly to resolve the dispute and to enable the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance. We must ensure unimpeded access for people in need in line with International Humanitarian Law.

Developing Countries: Education

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the announcement on education funding at the UN General Assembly, what steps he is taking to ensure that the most marginalised (a) girls and (b) adolescents are able to access a good standard of education.

Andrew Stephenson: At this year’s UN General Assembly, the UK announced £515 million in new support to help get over 12 million children – half of them girls – into school. This includes a £300 million pledge for the innovative new International Finance Facility for Education that will help mobilise an additional $5 billion of investment for education in Africa and Asia, with a focus on the most marginalised children. This funding, in line with the Prime Minister’s pledge to make sure all girls have 12 years of quality education, will give millions of girls around the world the chance to go to school, supporting economic growth and improving women’s rights. More broadly, the UK is committed to promoting gender equality and protecting and empowering adolescent girls, and we also announced a new £600 million aid package to provide millions more women and girls in the developing world access to family planning.

Department for Education

Pupils: Electronic Cigarettes

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to schools on preventing pupils vaping on school premises; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of schools that have written to parents on the prevalence of vaping.

Nick Gibb: Schools have a statutory duty to promote pupil wellbeing and there is a range of guidance available to schools to support this. This includes advice produced by the Department for Education and Association of Chief Police Officers for schools which includes advice about smoking and drugs. This advice is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270169/drug_advice_for_schools.pdf. The statutory guidance for Health Education also determines that primary age pupils will learn the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking. In secondary, pupils will build on that knowledge and, in addition, learn about the associated legal and psychological risks of taking drugs. From September 2020, Health Education will be compulsory for all pupils in primary and secondary state-funded schools. The Department’s Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance sets out schools’ powers to search pupils and confiscate prohibited items. Schools have the power to confiscate, retain or dispose of any item that is banned by the school rules or detrimental to school discipline, including vapes. Schools can set out in their behaviour policy their approach to the use of vapes and any sanction that will be imposed for their use. The Department does not collect data on the number of schools that have written to parents on the prevalence of vaping.

Schools: North East Hampshire

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 September 2019, HCWS1828, what estimate his Department has made of the additional funding that schools in North East Hampshire will collectively receive in comparison to funding received in 2015.

Nick Gibb: Schools that are attracting their core National Funding Formula allocations this year will benefit from an increase of 4% to the formula’s core factors in 2020-21. In the same year, the minimum per pupil funding levels will be set at £3,750 for primary schools and £5,000 for secondary schools. In 2021-22, the primary minimum level will rise to £4,000.School and local authority level allocations will be published in October; until then, it is not possible to provide an exact figure for how much funding North East Hampshire will receive in comparison to 2015. However, all schools in all areas will benefit from this increase, with particular gains for the lowest and previously underfunded schools.

Department for Education: Brexit

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what amount his Department has spent on the Getting Ready for Brexit campaign since 23 July 2019; which companies have been awarded contracts by his Department as part of the Getting Ready for Brexit campaign; whether (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants including special advisers declared any interests in relation to those contracts; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the civil service code values of transparency and impartiality are maintained through the effective governance of communications on the UK's departure from the EU.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not spent any money on the Getting Ready for Brexit campaign since 23 July 2019. No contracts have been awarded by the Department as a part of this campaign.The Department is providing its own guidance to the education sectors that it serves via published information on GOV.UK, support through existing networks, and otherwise through the normal conduct of the day-to-day business of the Government, for which officials are aware of the need to uphold the values of the civil service code. All Departmental communications are subject to rigorous clearance processes.

Home Education: Teachers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of secondary school teachers that have taken on private tuition outside school in the last two years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.

Home Education: Secondary Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of secondary school children who receive private tuition.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally. The Department does not collect data on the receipt of private tuition by children.

School Exclusions Review

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Timpson Review of School Exclusion, what progress has been made on updating guidance for head teachers on their powers to exclude pupils; and when a consultation on that revised guidance will be published.

Nick Gibb: The Department is taking forward an ambitious programme of reform which will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, while equipping schools to support children at risk of exclusion and ensuring excluded children continue to receive a good education.As part of this, the Department will re-write guidance on exclusions and behaviour to offer clearer, more consistent guidance to schools on managing behaviour, the use of in-school units, managed moves and the circumstances where it may be appropriate to use exclusion.The Department is engaging with stakeholders including schools and local authorities on this ambitious programme of action, and it will publish guidance by summer 2020.

Special Educational Needs: Autism

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children aged five-years old and under with a special educational need arising from autism or autism spectrum disorder had (a) an Education, Health and Care Plan and (b) received SEN support in each English region in each year since 2010.

Michelle Donelan: The information requested has been provided in the attached table.The analysis includes all children aged 5 years old and under in state-funded primary and special schools. The information requested is not available for children with Education, Health and Care Plans who are not in school.Further information can be found in the annual 'Special educational needs in England' statistical releases published at the following link, including national figures by all primary SEN types and age (Table B): https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.



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Universities

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that universities throughout the UK adopt system-wide planning process in addition to controls on numbers.

Chris Skidmore: Formal student number controls were phased out in 2012/13 with the exception of capped medical places to enable as many students as possible to access and succeed in higher education (HE). This has enabled record rates of 18-year olds to benefit from a university education than ever before, including from disadvantaged backgrounds. 50% of students are now choosing to study in HE and in 2018, those from disadvantaged backgrounds were 52% more likely to enter full-time HE than in 2009. One of the aims of the new independent regulator for HE, the Office for Students, which became operational on 1 August 2019, is to hold providers to account for delivering well-designed courses that offer successful outcomes for all of their students.

Children: Day Care

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he is making to increase the recruitment and retention of childcare professionals.

Nick Gibb: The Department continues to support employer trailblazer groups to develop new apprenticeship standards for the early years workforce and to access funding for apprenticeship training. Organisations with a pay bill of less than £3 million each year are only required to pay 5% of the training costs for apprentices (within the relevant funding band). Alongside this, the Department is investing £20 million for in-service professional development and training for pre-reception early years practitioners in targeted disadvantaged areas from 53 local authorities. The Department also continues to work closely with the sector to look at issues that might be affecting recruitment and retention in the early years workforce. For example, the Fatherhood Institute has been awarded a grant to develop tools and resources aimed at increasing gender diversity in the early years sector. In partnership with Ofsted the Department has also supported a project led by the Early Years Alliance to explore and respond to workload burdens in the sector.

Pupil Exclusions

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the number of exclusions of young people from mainstream education.

Nick Gibb: The Department is clear that permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort and exclusion from school should not mean exclusion from education.The Department is taking forward an ambitious programme of reform which will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, while equipping schools to support children at risk of exclusion and ensuring excluded children continue to receive a good education.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to address the disparity in the provision of SEND support for children between different areas and local authorities in England in the upcoming Review into Support for Children with Special Educational Needs.

Michelle Donelan: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information the Department holds on the real-terms changes to Special Educational Needs budgets by (a) constituency and (b) local authority since 2010.

Michelle Donelan: Local authorities are required to provide schools with sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), up to the value of £6,000. This funding comes from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget, which is part of the high needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.The published schools block and high needs block allocations for each local authority since 2013-14 are available at the following links:2013-14 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-2014.2014-15 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-2015.2015-16 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016.2016-17 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017.2017-18 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018.2018-19 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.2019-20 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2019-to-2020.Prior to 2013, the Dedicated Schools Grant was not split into specific blocks for schools or high needs. As it includes funding for other services, such as the early years budget, the department is unable to provide comparable figures prior to 2013-14. The Dedicated Schools Grant is allocated at local authority level and constituency level information is not available.In 2020-21, we have allocated an additional £2.6 billion for schools and high needs, including more than £700 million in high needs funding.

Prime Minister

Hacker House: Grants

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the grant of £100,000 made to Hacker House in 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Boris Johnson: As my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Matt Warman) told the House on 25 September 2019, Official Report, Col. 678, neither I nor my staff had any role in the award of this grant. The grant was awarded in February 2019 by officials from DCMS, the Department for Education, techUK and the National Cyber Security Centre, following an open, transparent and competitive process.

Department for International Trade

Trade: Ethics

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to develop fair and ethical trade.

Conor Burns: As outlined in the White Paper, Preparing for our future UK trade policy, the Government is committed to a fair and rules-based approach to international trade. The UK has long supported the promotion of our values globally and this will continue as we leave the European Union.The Department for International Trade and the Department for International Development are working together to ensure development and global prosperity are at the heart of UK trade and investment policy. We do this in several ways, including:enhancing market access for poor countries through our trading arrangements;ensuring that they can take advantage of this access through trade-related assistance (Aid for Trade); andusing our voice in organisations like the World Trade Organisation to argue for better and fairer trading rules for developing countries.The Government will pursue economic prosperity for the UK and lead by example through our pursuit of free and fair trade.

Trade Agreements: USA

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will ensure that the NHS is not included in a trade deal with the US Administration; and if she will make a statement.

Conor Burns: As we leave the European Union, the UK will continue to ensure that public services – including the NHS – are protected in all trade agreements it is party to, whether transitioned from an EU context or as a result of new negotiations. The Government has been consistently clear about its commitment to the guiding principles of the NHS – that it is universal and free at the point of need. Our position is definitive: the NHS is not, and never will be, for sale to the private sector, whether overseas or domestic. The Government will ensure no trade agreements will ever be able to alter these fundamental facts.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the requirement for electric vehicle charging points on new developments is.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points provided on new residential developments.

Esther McVey: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that when setting parking standards for residential and non residential developments local authorities will need to take into account the need to ensure an adequate provision of spaces for charging plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles. It also makes clear that applications for development should be designed to enable charging of plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles in safe, accessible and convenient locations.  The Government is consulting on whether to introduce new building regulations requirements to set a minimum standard for the provision of electric vehicle chargepoints in the following circumstances, where the building has associated car parking- when constructing a new building- when undergoing major renovation of a residential building- for existing non-residential buildingsThe consultation is open until 7 October and can be found here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/electric-vehicle-chargepoints-in-residential-and-non-residential-buildings )

Right to Buy Scheme

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate his Department has made of proportion of homes purchased under the right to buy schemes that are now owned by private landlords.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not collect this information. Under the Right to Buy there are restrictions in place to discourage re-sale within 5 years of purchase, and mortgage providers and landlords may also place restrictions on letting in the terms of the sale.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2019 to Question 217589, for what reasons his Department did not include timber building materials in the bespoke fire safety testing commissioned by his Department.

Esther McVey: The Department has commissioned the Building Research Establishment to undertake bespoke medium scale tests on timber cladding panels as part of the ongoing Non-Aluminium Composite Material research.This programme began in April 2019 and the preliminary testing concluded in the Summer. This is now in an analysis phase and the research findings will be published in Autumn. Subject to the research findings, a decision will be made as to the testing of further materials used on external wall systems, including timber cladding.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September to Question 286248, whether his Department attempted to procure (a) non-fire retardant zinc composite material and (b) copper composite material cladding with a polyethylene core from outside the UK for testing as part of the Building Research Establishment testing programme commissioned by his Department.

Esther McVey: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to the question UIN 286248 on 03 September 2019.

Hotels: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to extend the ban on combustible building materials to high-rise hotels.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to extend the ban on combustible building materials to high-rise offices.

Esther McVey: On 29 November 2018, the Government introduced a ban of combustible materials in the external wall of buildings including blocks of flats, student accommodation and care homes more than 18 metres in height. The ban requires that all materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment achieve European Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1, other than those covered by exemptions.As stated in the explanatory memorandum the Department intends to review the ban annually through monitoring arrangements and advice from bodies such as Building Regulations Advisory Committee for England. This will include considering the scope of the ban.

Towns Fund

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department used to identify the 100 towns invited to develop proposals for the £3.6 billion towns fund.

Jake Berry: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Future High Streets Fund

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria was used to select successful bids under the Future High Streets Fund; and if he will publish the scoring matrix used for each application to that fund.

Jake Berry: High streets have a crucial role to play as we work to grow the economy of all parts of the country. Our £1 billion Future High Streets Fund is key to delivering this, empowering local leaders to help transform their high streets and town centres as consumer habits change, by investing in housing, workplaces, infrastructure and culture.All expressions of interest to the Future High Streets Fund were individually assessed in line with the guidance and information published in our Prospectus and Supplementary Guidance, where we also outlined the criteria for the Fund as well as the weighting for the expression of interest questions. Both the Prospectus and Supplementary Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-high-streets-fund-call-for-proposals.As the Future High Streets Fund is still a live and open competitive process it would not be appropriate for the Department to publish individual scores, as these are commercially sensitive.

LGBT People: Homelessness

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the findings from the Government’s research into homelessness in the LGBT community, as announced in the Rough Sleepers Strategy and the LGBT Action Plan.

Luke Hall: The research has been completed and the report will be published in due course.The government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. It includes measures to improve the health outcomes of those who sleep rough.This government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period to April 2020. In 2020/2021 we are providing a further £422 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £54 million increase in funding from the previous year. This highlights the government’s continued focus on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, and we will announce how this additional funding has been allocated in due course.

Hate Crime

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to prevent a potential rise in hate crime in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Luke Hall: We are clear that there is no excuse for using the British people's decision to leave the EU to target people of any faith or background, and that includes EU nationals. All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable and this country has one of the strongest legal frameworks in the world to report, record and prosecute hate crime. We are funding hate crime reporting platforms, including Tell MAMA and True Vision who seek to increase hate crime reporting, helping communities unearth and challenge such behaviour.   More broadly, we are continuing our work to ensure that Britain remains a country where people live, work, learn and socialise together and share rights and responsibilities, whatever their background. We are engaging with communities of all faiths and background, to make sure that we understand any concerns communities may have and can provide targeted support. We have also worked with community and local partners to develop and publish guidance to support local authorities to engage effectively with all communities during this period.

Local Government Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities to prepare for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and whether funds will be allocated to local authorities to help them prepare for that eventuality.

Luke Hall: We are confident that local authorities are taking appropriate steps to prepare for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to ensure that the services that residents, communities and businesses rely upon continue. This Department has made available £77 million of funding to help all local areas to prepare for Brexit and we are ensuring that councils have the necessary information to prepare effectively, and that there are opportunities to raise and address specific local questions and concerns. Every council now has a Brexit Lead Officer who will ensure their councils take all necessary steps to prepare for a no deal and to further enhance two-way communication between the different tiers of government. The Department has also received and reviewed the No Deal plans of all 38 Local Resilience Forums in England and we are confident that there are sufficient plans in place. There has also been extensive engagement with the sector, including a series of events for all councils, a monthly meeting between the Secretary of State and sector leaders, a monthly teleconference with all Chief Executives and Brexit Lead Officers, and weekly dialogue with a network of nine Chief Executives who represent their regions on Brexit. There are also regular mailouts, bulletins and dedicated web pages to bring together relevant information, advice and guidance on Brexit from across Whitehall.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Expenditure

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to row K of the table entitled, Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limits on page 46 of the Central Government Supply Estimates 2019-20: Main Supply Estimates, published in May 2019, if he will publish the allocations of the spending under the heading Provision of Defence Capability Other Capital (Fiscal).

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to row L of the table headed Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limits on page 46 of the Central Government Supply Estimates 2019-20: Main Supply Estimates, published in May 2019, if he will publish the allocation of the spending under the heading Provision of Defence Capability Fiscal Assets / Estate Disposal.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to row M of the table headed Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limits on page 46 of the Central Government Supply Estimates 2019-20: Main Supply Estimates, published in May 2019, if he will publish the allocation of the spending under the heading Provision of Defence Capability New Loans and Loan Repayment.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to row N of the table entitled, Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limits on page 46 of the Central Government Supply Estimates 2019-20: Main Supply Estimates, published in May 2019, if he will publish the allocations for the spending under the heading Provision of Defence Capability Research and Development Costs.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to row O of the table headed Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limits on page 46 of the Central Government Supply Estimates 2019-20: Main Supply Estimates, published in May 2019, if he will publish the allocations for the spending under the heading Provision of Defence Capability Administration Civilian Personnel Costs.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: I refer the hon. Member to the letter I sent him on 17 September 2019 in response to his previous Questions 284206, 284208, 2844211, 284216, 284218, 284377, 284379, 284381, 284384 and 284388, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.



Peter Dowd Letter
(PDF Document, 35 KB)

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Tankers

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 284825 on Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Tankers, when the first refit periods for RFA TIDESPRING and TIDERACE will be concluded.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: On current plans, the refit periods for RFA TIDESPRING and RFA TIDERACE will be completed later this year and in early 2020 respectively.

Armed Forces: Finance

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a proportion of the additional £2.2 billion announced in the Spending Round 2019 for the armed forces can be allocated towards increasing the headcount of procurement-related civil servants and support services.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: This additional funding will enable our world-class Armed Forces to begin to modernise and meet the intensifying threats and risks we now face, including prioritising investment in key capabilities such as shipbuilding, offensive cyber and the nuclear deterrent. We will decide on the allocation of this funding as part of our normal financial planning and budgeting process.

Army: Sick Leave

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Army recruits who take sick leave return to work to complete their training; and what the average length of absence is.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Stonehouse Barracks: Royal Marines

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish new basing arrangements for the Royal Marines based at Stonehouse Barracks in Plymouth.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 September 2019, to Question 287622.

Aircraft Carriers: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Scottish shipyard industry on future maintenance of the HMS Prince of Wales.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to award a contract for future refits of HMS Prince of Wales.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which dry dock facilities in the UK are under consideration for future refits for the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Routine scheduled repair and refitting of the two Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers, other than dry-docking, will be undertaken at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth. Plans for a long-term in-service support solution are under consideration as part of the Common Support Model for complex warships. Whilst no decisions have been made, we anticipate that dry-docking periods will be put out to competitive tender if the market for such work exists, in line with Departmental policy. The costs of dry docking QEC aircraft carriers have been benchmarked in competition to ensure value for money through negotiation with suppliers if no market for competition is forthcoming. It is currently too early for any formal engagement with industry on these matters, but the following dry-dock facilities in the UK are of a sufficient size to accommodate the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers: Able UK, Seaton Port, Teeside; Babcock, Rosyth; Cammell Laird, Birkenhead; Cammell Laird, Greenock (Inchgreen); Harland and Wolff, Belfast.

Ministry of Defence: Energy Supply

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to select an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: A list of the providers who supply energy to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) can be found in the table below. Type of EnergyName of Supplier/sElectricity (metered non-half hourly)British Gas BusinessElectricity (metered half hourly)EDFGasCoronaLPGFlogas and CalorBiomassForest FuelsGas in Northern IrelandFirmusElectricity in Northern IrelandVeridian trading as EnergiaOilCertas Energy UK LtdOilCertas Energy UK Ltd trading as Scottish FuelsOilHighland Fuels LtdOilOil NRGOilWFL UK Limited - a World Fuel Services companyOilStandard Fuel Oils LtdOilLCC Group The latest published Greening Government Commitment figures for MOD CO2 emissions are for 2018/19 and cover the UK estate. 827,829 tonnes of CO2 were emitted in that year. This represented a 42% reduction against a 2009/10 baseline, compared to a 2020 target of 40%. The criteria used to select energy suppliers, is set by Crown Commercial Services. The MOD has taken a number of steps to reduce CO2 emissions including: Estate rationalisation and optimisation;Introduction of Energy Master Plans;Participation in the Cabinet Office and BEIS Modern Energy Partners initiative pilot programme to use the scale of the central Government public sector estate to accelerate deployment of sophisticated clean energy solutions.Introduction of spend to save programmes using proven technology such as LED lighting; installation of dynamic boiler management Uunits and automated urinal flushing units;Piloting energy performance contracts and largescale ground mounted solar Photovoltaic arrays; andEntering into a power purchase agreement for the supply of low carbon renewable electricity to RAF Marham.

Bomb Disposal: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Army bomb disposal units were called out in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2019 and 1 July 2019.

Mark Lancaster: Data for the period 1 January 2019 to 1 July 2019 can be found below: MonthTotal Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) TasksTotal Conventional Munition Disposal (CMD)TasksJanuary213February193March174April315May166June247Total12828

Conservative Party: Photographs and Video Recordings

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times (a) photographers  and (b) videos produced by the (i) Ministry of Defence, (ii) No.10, (iii) Government Communications Service, (iv) Armed Forces personnel and (v) an external agency contracted to one of those were provided to the Conservative Party for their use in the last six months; and what payments were made for that service.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: No Ministry of Defence photographs or videos are provided to any political party. A range of photographs and videos are free to download on the Defence Imagery Database at the following address:http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/fotoweb/Information for No 10, Government Communications Service and external agencies are not held by the Department.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work of 8 July 2019, Official Report, Column 321, if she will provide details of the successful third-party universal credit fraud prosecution.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



The Department is committed to the prevention, detection and investigation of benefit fraud. We take this issue very seriously and will continue to use appropriate penalties to deter this fraudulent behaviour. Turning to the specific case you reference, the defendant was convicted at a Magistrates court on 14 February 2019 for fraudulently obtaining £4,152.86 in Universal Credit Advances. This prosecution identified that the suspect had hijacked the identities of close family members in order to make fraudulent applications to Universal Credit, via the online application process, enabling fraudulent payments of Universal Credit and Universal Credit Advances. It was established that the defendant had also impersonated a friend and changed the payment destination of his friend’s Universal Credit payments.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to prevent cases of third-party universal credit fraud taking place during managed migration.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



The Department has raised awareness of this issue via a dedicated social media campaign, which reminds people of the importance of safeguarding their identity. The Department has also worked with social media sites to shut down pages that promote this type of fraud, with 121 pages closed to date. We remain committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, including advance payments, under review, and are making improvements to address any vulnerability in the system. Improving verification and increasing the number of face to face interviews are potential options, but any changes will need to be carefully impacted to ensure there is no adverse effect on our ability to pay people the money they need to live on ahead of their Universal Credit claim. The Universal Credit pilot is helping move the first cohort of people to Universal Credit. Minimising potential risks is a key part of our approach. Testing the system and our processes in this way ensures we will be able to deliver a secure service to those claimants who will move to Universal Credit from their legacy benefit claim as planned, by the end of 2023.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her oral contribution to the Work and Pensions Committee of 24 July 2019, how many of the 1,400 cases to have undergone interview under caution due to third-party universal credit fraud have been referred for prosecution.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



The Department is not able to comment on investigations that may be ongoing.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at what point during the universal credit claim process her Department checks claims for potentially fraudulent details.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



Effective identity verification and authentication, using commonly applied standards across the Department, protects claimants' personal data and makes a direct contribution to the prevention of fraud. There are various ways in which a claimant can verify their identity to support a new claim to Universal Credit: online using the electronic Verify system; in person using primary and secondary ID verification or; by using biographical questions, for those who do not have identity documents. Staff are encouraged to report any instances of potentially fraudulent activity. All claims where fraud may have been committed are investigated. We will use penalties such as prosecutions and tough financial penalties, where appropriate, to discourage fraudulent behaviour. The Department considers all cases on their own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.

Department for Work and Pensions: Resignations

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many working age people employed in her Department have left work as a result of a (a) disability and (b) long-term health condition in (i) 2016, (ii) 2017 and (iii) 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: When leaving the department, people are asked on a voluntary basis to complete a questionnaire stating the reason we are therefore unable to give complete figures. The table below shows numbers of ill health retirements over the period requested. Ill Health Retirementsyear endingNo of PeopleDec-16174Dec-17129Dec-18126

Department for Work and Pensions: Disability

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking taken to encourage the retention of disabled people working in her Department.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and is committed to attracting, recruiting and retaining disabled people, and supporting them to achieve their full potential.To support this commitment and retain our disabled colleagues we have implemented a number of actions which include: Increasing Line Manager capabilities and confidence to embed inclusive leadership throughout DWP. For example, we have introduced a mandatory Senior Civil Servant Diversity & Inclusion and Wellbeing objective; embedded disability confidence in our Leadership Essential Learning products. Implementation of an ‘I Can Be Me in DWP’ campaign designed to empower all DWP staff to engage in conversations within their teams and encourage them to do things differently. Streamlining and improving information on our intranet guidance pages relating to Workplace Adjustments and provision of bespoke Occupational Health advice. Continue to improve our workplace adjustment passport including changes to the current funding methods for adjustments to simplify the process and remove potential barriers. Increased Mental Health and employee network support via the training of a network of 1,243 Mental Health First Aider with the aim of further increasing this to 1600 by March 2020. Provision of mentoring and coaching opportunities and access to cross-government development programmes for talented civil servants in under-represented groups with the desire and potential to progress their careers.

Post Office Card Account

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department decided to close the Post Office Card Account; and whether her Department has plans to introduce a replacement for that account.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



The Department’s contract with Post Office Limited for the Post Office Card Account ends in November 2021, this is the reason why plans are underway for a replacement. The replacement service will ensure that customers who remain unable to open or manage a standard account, are provided with a payment mechanism to receive their payment of pension and benefit from DWP. Commercial arrangements are underway to engage with potential suppliers in preparation for competitive tender later this year.

Social Security Benefits: Special Educational Needs

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what alternative financial provision his Department has made available for young people with SEND who are (a) in full-time further education and (b) aged 20 or above and no longer have access to non-contributory employment and support allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: A disabled student determined to have Limited Capability for Work (Work Related Activity Group) or Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (Support Group), in receipt of PIP/DLA, who has moved from Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit following a change in circumstances, with no break in their claim will meet the criteria to receive Universal Credit. A person requiring financial support is able to claim Universal Credit alongside their PIP/DLA payments. The following special points should be noted: When claimants are undertaking education/training while claiming UC, their conditionality will depend on their circumstances and the labour market regime they are placed in. For example:Claimants who are still eligible for UC whist receiving education are placed in the No Work Related Requirements Group.Education/training may be compatible with a claimant’s work-related requirements when: the education or training is able to be treated as a work preparation requirement, i.e. a course which is considered important in helping the claimant move into work, more work or better paid work.Regulation 12(4) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 provides that a person, as described, is not treated as receiving education if the course is considered to be compatible with any work related requirements which the Secretary of State places upon them.

Television: Licensing

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow City local authority area and (c) Scotland in  2018-19; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020. On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit. The cost to the public purse for providing free TV licences to those aged over 75 in Scotland in 2018/19 is estimated as £38m. This is the first year of the part funding agreement leading up to the BBC taking responsibility for policy and funding of the concession from June 2020. The figure of £38m therefore is the DWP’s share only, not the total expenditure. The table below provides estimates of the costs and caseloads for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 years and over in Glasgow South West constituency and Glasgow City local authority. The most recent figures available for parliamentary constituency and local authority are for 2017/18. Figures for 2018/19 will be available in October.  Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18(a) Glasgow South West constituency£0.7(b) Glasgow City local authority£4.1 Note: The figure of £4.1m for Glasgow City local authority has been revised upwards by £0.1m from £4.0m since figures were last provided in a Parliamentary Question response in June 2019.

Members: Correspondence

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Glasgow East of 24 July 2019, reference DL3066.

Mims Davies: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



I am sorry that the hon. member for Glasgow East has not yet received a substantive reply to his correspondence. Officials have contacted his office to explain that due to the complexities of the matters raised, investigations into his constituents concerns are ongoing. A substantive reply will be sent as soon as we are in a position to do so.

Occupational Pensions: Airdrie and Shotts

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Airdrie and Shotts constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012. The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates, and our latest evaluation report shows that in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates. In the Airdrie and Shotts constituency, from 2012 to August 2019, approximately 8,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 960 employers have met their duties.

Universal Credit: Disability

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the financial effect on disabled people of the replacement of six income-related benefits with universal credit; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: Comparisons between entitlement in legacy benefits and Universal Credit fail to reflect that, until recently, people only claimed Universal Credit as a result of a change in their circumstances. It is important to remember that there are £2.4 billion of unclaimed benefits not going to the people who need them because they are unaware of how to claim, or that they may be entitled. Universal Credit makes sure that welfare payments reach those who need them most, and when we complete moving legacy benefit claimants over to Universal Credit, an estimated 700,000 more people will get paid their full entitlement because of Universal Credit. The Government have committed to spending in excess of £3 billion over 10 years on transitional protection for 1.1 million households. This will help fund assistance for those moving from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit including a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020. Overall the Government are spending £55 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. That’s a record high and up £10 billion in real terms since 2010.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to prevent third-party universal credit fraud.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



The Department has raised awareness of Universal Credit advance fraud via Jobcentreplus and a dedicated social media campaign, which reminds people of the importance of safeguarding their identity. The Department has also worked with social media sites to shut down pages that promote this type of fraud, with 125 pages closed to date. The Department remains committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, including advance payments, under review, and are making improvements to address any vulnerability in the system. The Department now requires customers not only to prove their identity, but also attend a face to face interview at the Jobcentre before they can claim an advance. The Department remains on track with design and test activity to further reduce the risk of opportunistic advances fraud by using real time validation of key elements of the application. In each instance we are taking care to ensure that there is no adverse effect on our ability to provide advance payments to those who need them.

Personal Independence Payment

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that personal independence payment rejection letters are empathetic.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to delivering a good claimant experience throughout the decision making process. Case Managers in DWP are all aware of the need to explain their decisions in a clear and empathetic way. We are considering how the explanation section (“My decision” section) of Personal Independence Payment decision letters can be improved.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many administrative penalties her Department has levied on individuals who have reported they have been a victim of universal credit fraud.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



The information you have requested could only be provided by manually examining a substantial number of individual cases. The Department estimates that this would incur disproportionate costs. For the sake of clarity the policy is that an Administrative Penalty is only ever considered as an alternative to a referral for a prosecution in cases where benefit fraud has been committed, and not for innocent victims who report fraud.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many interviews under caution have individuals who have reported they have been a victim of universal credit fraud had a legal representative to accompany them.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



I have interpreted your question to relate to Universal Credit advances fraud. The information requested could only be provided by manually examining the cases. We estimate that this would incur disproportionate costs. However, all claimants are entitled to bring a legal representative and are advised of this in their invitation to interview.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many administrative penalties her Department has levied on victims of universal credit fraud who attended interviews under caution and who were accompanied by legal representatives.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



Administrative Penalties would not be used in any case where evidence showed that a claimant was an innocent victim of Universal Credit advances fraud.Administrative Penalties are financial penalties which can be used as an alternative to prosecution in cases where benefit fraud has been committed.

Social Security Benefits: Eligibility

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing NHS-funded care home residents with long-term health conditions to claim benefits.

Justin Tomlinson: It is a long-standing principle of social policy that there should not be double provision for the same contingency out of public funds. People whose placement in a nursing home is funded by NHS Continuing Healthcare are not asked to contribute to their support. Legislation provides that where any costs of qualifying services are borne out of public funds the disability benefits (Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment) are withdrawn after 28 days.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to (a) pilots and (b) cabin crew affected by the liquidation of Thomas Cook.

Mims Davies: Holding answer received on 30 September 2019



DWP stands ready to support anyone affected by the closure of Thomas Cook, with our Rapid Response Service (RRS) offer. This is a redundancy service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy. It is coordinated nationally by the National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) and is managed by Jobcentre Plus.The RRS has been mobilised to help people find a new job as soon as possible by offering tailored support. Each Jobcentre Plus district deploy resources according to the situation and the requirements of the workforce. The RRS is delivered in partnership with a range of national and local partners, including National Careers Service and local service providers.Our local teams are monitoring all new claims to benefits to identify where the claimant is an ex-employee of Thomas Cook so that they quickly receive the right level of support.The Department is working closely with over 100 employers to offer support and opportunities. We are delivering over 65 Job Fairs nationally, where ex-employees can meet local employers with vacancies.The full range of support available from Jobcentre Plus and partners includes:Information advice and guidance.Connecting people to jobs in the labour market.Help with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them.Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labourmarket).Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognisedcertification that will improve employability.Help to overcome barriers to attending training or securing a job or self-employment such as child care costs, necessary tools, work clothes, travel costs etc.On-site presentations to those affected.Job Fairs and Job Clubs where appropriate.Please note that the data supplied are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on reductions to deductions for claimants of universal credit in latest period for which data is available.

Will Quince: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of universal credit received a (a) budgeting loan and (b) deferral period in the latest period for which data is available.

Will Quince: Budgeting loans are not available to claimants in receipt of Universal Credit and therefore we do not hold any data. Budgeting Advances have replaced Budgeting Loans for those in receipt of Universal Credit helping to provide additional assistance for emergency household costs, such as replacing a broken cooker, getting a job or staying in work or funeral costs. Eligibility for a Budgeting Advance is explained on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support

Children: Maintenance

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 285165 on Children: Maintenance, for what reasons she has not made an assessment of the effect on equality of calculating child maintenance liabilities using gross income due to different tax liabilities in the constituent parts of the UK.

Mims Davies: An assessment of the decision to use gross income to calculate child maintenance liabilities was carried out when we developed the 2012 statutory scheme. It is important that the rules used to calculate a child maintenance liability are applied consistently to avoid the complexities for clients that would result from applying different rules to different parts of the UK. The maintenance calculation is designed to be affordable for the non-resident parent, while still ensuring that they contribute a significant proportion of their income to support children they no longer live with. There is no evidence to suggest that parents are disproportionately affected by the decision to use gross income, because of where they reside in the UK.

Universal Credit: Payments

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of ending the five week wait for the first universal credit payment on (a) levels of poverty and (b) the public purse.

Will Quince: Nobody has to wait for five weeks for a payment following an application for Universal Credit. Universal Credit new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed urgently, until their first regular Universal Credit payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. We have announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months. The Department has delivered a number of improvements to support claimants during their first assessment period, such as removing waiting days and paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020. Assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid, and how utility companies and other service providers collect payments. This allows Universal Credit to be adjusted each month, which means that if a claimant’s income falls they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the merits of replicating the policy of the Scottish Government to require full medical records to be available for disability benefit assessments.

Justin Tomlinson: It is a matter for the Scottish Government how they assess entitlement for devolved benefits. The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) are based on the impact of a person’s disability or health condition, not on the condition itself and are not medical assessments. Therefore, medical evidence forms only part of the picture needed to assess someone’s functional needs or ability. We ask people to send in evidence they already have to support their claim. Our Assessment Providers and Case Managers will ask GPs, hospitals and other healthcare or social care professionals for further evidence where they think that would be helpful. To offer a more joined-up service to disabled people, the DWP Health Transformation Programme will be integrating the services that deliver PIP and WCA. Our ambition is to make the assessment process simpler, more transparent and more user-friendly.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the merits of only having face-to-face medical assessments for disability benefits if that is requested by the claimant.

Justin Tomlinson: Face-to-face consultations give individuals the opportunity to put across their own views of the impact of their health condition or impairment on their everyday lives. However, we recognise that attending a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment or Work Capability Assessment (WCA) can be a stressful experience, which is why our Assessment Providers do not carry out face-to-face assessments where there is enough existing evidence to determine an individual’s functional restrictions. Our ambition is to make the assessment process simpler and more user-friendly by, where possible, gathering better evidence earlier in the claim to reduce the need for unnecessary face-to-face assessments.

Food Banks

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government plans to publish its report into the factors driving the use of food banks.

Will Quince: The Department is currently working on the literature review and a release date is yet to be determined.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Data Protection

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 195110 on data protection, what the subject matter was of each of those documents.

George Eustice: The subject matters of the Official-Sensitive papers reported lost were: Thames Tideway commercial papersWater regulation policy papersBusiness planning methodologyHigh level overview of project planOverseas delegation briefing packPersonal identification documents The subject matters of the Official papers reported lost were: Desk papers blown out of an office windowVideoconference design papersWaste framework policy papersList of potential stakeholder event invitees

Eggs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) farms, (b) packing stations and (c) wholesalers in the egg sector do not breach standards regulations.

Zac Goldsmith: Egg producers, packing centres and wholesalers are subject to rigorous and regular regulatory inspections by the Animal and Plant Health Agency to protect public and animal health. Compliance breaches under egg marketing legislation and failures to carry out salmonella testing are taken very seriously. Where any significant non-compliances are found, contravention notices are served requiring the non-compliance to be corrected by a set deadline. A fixed penalty may be applied where salmonella sampling breaches have occurred.

Fisheries

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on developing a UK fisheries policy after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The Government set out its vision for future domestic fisheries policy in the White Paper “Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations” published in July 2018 and subsequently in the Fisheries Bill.

Genetically Modified Organisms

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the control of genetically modified organisms after the UK leaves the EU; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government’s policy is to apply thorough scientific standards on authorising genetically modified (GM) products, with their release subject to a robust assessment of the potential impact on human health and the environment. In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement, EU legislation would initially be converted into Retained EU law and applied domestically. Decisions on the release of GMOs in the UK will remain devolved.

Cereals: Exports

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to support exporters of (a) wheat and (b) barley in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: The Government has established the UK Agricultural Marketing Monitoring Group with the devolved administrations to monitor developments in the market across our agriculture sectors. This group will operate in the event the EU leaves without a deal. It will provide forewarning of any atypical market movements and will help us to ensure that we are aware of the implications for UK stakeholders. We continue to consider options for easing the flow of trade in cereals in the event of no deal.

Animal Feed: Imports

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to support the import of animal feed in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: We are in regular dialogue with the farming unions, processors and allied industries about the availability of animal feed and other supplies in the event of a no deal.In 2017 the UK produced 13.9 million tonnes of animal feed. Included in this amount was 3.9 million tonnes of ingredients imported from third countries and 2.2 million tonnes from the EU. This would suggest that the sector is less dependent on imports from the EU, however we will continue to monitor the markets in order to determine the impact of our leaving the EU on prices and supply.

Eggs: Salmonella

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of scheduled tests for salmonella in eggs that were (a) carried out behind schedule and (b) not carried out.

Zac Goldsmith: National Control Plan official sampling is done annually as per legislative requirements. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) are an approved Industry Control Body for their own assurance scheme members and their annual official sampling is carried out by their auditors NSF International. Non-BEIC producers are sampled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). In 2018, APHA completed all official sampling on non-BEIC laying farms in the timescales required. 2019 sampling for non-BEIC laying farms is also on track for completion within the timescales required. As part of routine regulatory inspections APHA inspectors audit each egg producer’s salmonella sampling records in order to review operator sampling. Where late or missed sampling is identified a penalty notice will be issued. In addition, where there is no clear current test present at the time of the inspection, the inspector will immediately take the appropriate samples for testing and will serve a notice applying restrictions to the eggs pending a clear test result. The number of penalty notices that have been raised against producers in England are: 01/06/16-31/05/17 - 30.01/06/17-31/05/18 - 44.01/06/18-31/05/19 - 35.

Food: Shortages

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to avoid food shortages in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: The UK Government has well established ways of working with the food industry. The food industry is experienced in dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply and Defra Ministers and officials meet regularly with the food industry to support contingency planning by the industry as we prepare to leave the EU. Consumers have access to a wide range of food products when they shop and this will continue once we leave the EU. However, if key trade routes are temporarily disrupted, there would be reduced availability and choice of certain food products, including some of the fresh produce we import from the EU. If we have to leave with no deal, there will not be an overall shortage of food in the UK.

Seas and Oceans: Climate Change

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the findings in the IPCC’s Special Report entitled the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

Zac Goldsmith: We welcome the IPCC Special Report, which provides the best available science on the wide range of impacts of climate change on the ocean and the cryosphere and potential measures for building resilience to those impacts. Climate change has already caused significant impacts on the ocean and cryosphere, including warming, acidification and deoxygenation of the ocean, melting of glaciers, ice sheets and permafrost, and sea level rise, with detrimental consequences for ecosystems and people.As this report and the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5◦C find, the severity of future impacts depends heavily on the levels of future greenhouse gas emissions. Higher emissions will result in more severe impacts, which is why the UK government set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050.To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees we should explore every available avenue. In the marine environment, Nature Based Solutions such as the conservation and restoration of coastal habitats, protection of coral reefs and designation of Marine Protected Areas can provide climate mitigation as well as climate adaptation and resilience benefits for biodiversity, fish nursery habitats, storm protection and contributions to coastal communities. To that end, the UK is encouraging countries to join the Global Ocean Alliance - our call to protect at least 30% of the global ocean within Marine Protected Areas by 2030.

Flood Control

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to improve flood defences in (a) rural, (b) coastal and (c) urban areas in response to rising sea levels.

Rebecca Pow: Government is investing £2.6 billion from 2015-2021 to better protect the country from flooding and this will attract more than £600 million of additional investment. This is funding over 1,000 flood defence schemes, which will better protect 300,000 homes by 2021. The Environment Agency regularly reviews the programme: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/programme-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-schemes On September 10, the Government announced a £62 million boost for thirteen flooding defence schemes across the country, and we are also making up to £2 million available to support farmers North Yorkshire and Wainfleet, with uninsurable damages resulting from the summer flooding. The Farm Recovery Fund was opened on Friday 20 September and farmers can apply for grants between £500 and £25,000 to cover a number of repair costs. By the end of 2019 the Government will set out its policies to better prepare the country for flooding and coastal erosion in a Government policy statement on flooding and coastal erosion. The Government will also set out plans for broader infrastructure investment through the publication of a National Infrastructure Strategy later in the autumn. Informed by this Government policy, the Environment Agency will update its national strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management. These documents will ensure the country is on the right footing to better manage and adapt to the risks of flooding and coastal erosion. Improving our resilience to these risks will have benefits for our economy, environment, communities and our wellbeing.

Food: Prices

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on food prices in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

George Eustice: The most important drivers of change in the cost of food to consumers are global food commodity prices, currency exchange rates and oil prices. This will continue to be the case once the UK has left the EU and the UK Government has no direct control of these factors. However, we work closely with industry to promote transparency for consumers, and internationally to promote open global markets.

Home Office

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the current Minister of State for Crime, Policing and the Fire Service has met representatives of the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service; and what plans he has to meet those representatives in the future.

Kit Malthouse: I have recently received an invitation from the Chief Fire Officer of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, but no meeting has yet been arranged.

British Nationality

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the merits of reintroducing citizenship by birthright.

Seema Kennedy: The British Nationality Act 1981 came into effect on 1 January 1983. The primary aim of that Act was to restrict citizenship to those with a close and continuing connection with the UK. Since 1983 a child born in the UK will only be a British citizen if either parent is a British citizen or settled in the UK. Those born in the UK who do not acquire citizenship automatically at birth are able to apply for registration as a British citizen, if their parent becomes British or settled, or following residence in the UK for the first 10 years of their life. There are no plans to change the law in this respect.

Visas: Overseas Students

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the effect on international student numbers by country of the decision to extend UK work visas for foreign graduates to two years after completion of their studies.

Seema Kennedy: The launch of the Graduate immigration route demonstrates our support for the UK’s world-leading education sector and ensures that it remains competitive internationally. No estimate has been made of the number of students by country who will take advantage of it.The International Education Strategy sets out our ambition to increase the number of international higher education students to 600,000 by 2030 and this change will contribute to that goal.

Borders: Databases

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mitigating methods he has planned to provide continuous access to the (a) SIS II database and (b) ECRIS for UK law enforcement and border force agencies in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Brandon Lewis: My Department continues to work closely with operational partners and engage with EU Member States to prepare for our departure from the EU in October. If necessary, we will be ready to transition our cooperation with EU Member States to alternative, non-EU arrangements where available. Broadly speaking, this would mean making more use of Interpol, Council of Europe instruments and other forms of co-operation with European partners, such as bilateral channels. In a no deal scenario requests for criminal records information would be facilitated under the 1959 Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance. The 1959 Convention is already used as the basis for exchange with a number of other countries. As regards SIS II, we will be able to continue to cooperate through pre-existing bilateral channels or Interpol, as was the case before 2015 when the UK connected to SIS II.Whilst these alternative arrangements are not like-for-like replacements, they are tried and tested mechanisms that we already use for cooperating with many non-EU countries. The UK will continue to be one of the safest countries in the world in the event of no deal.

Police

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces have been requested to provide contingency resourcing for Operation Yellowhammer.

Kit Malthouse: It is the duty of any responsible Government to prepare for every eventuality including the scenario that we leave the EU without agreeing a deal.With that in mind, we are working closely with operational partners - including the police - on contingency planning so we can ensure the safety and security of our citizens in all scenarios. The police have tried and tested strategic mobilisation plans for responding to a wide range of emergency scenarios, including widespread disorder. This includes consideration of any requirements for mutual aid or other support. We are working closely with the National Police Chiefs Council and National Police Coordination Centre to ensure the plans are appropriate for a No Deal EU Exit.

Department for Exiting the European Union

British Nationals Abroad: EU Countries

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he is taking to ensure that British citizens with properties in EU member states maintain their rights in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

James Duddridge: All EU Member States are bound by Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which obliges them to respect property rights. This includes those who own property, own shares in a property and those who own a property and let it to tenants. UK national’s right to sell their existing property in the EU will remain unchanged and the property tax they pay on their properties will not be affected by the UK leaving the EU.Some Member States have laws which govern property and land purchasing that differentiate between their own citizens, EU citizens and Third Country Nationals when purchasing property. Individuals considering purchasing a property in an EU Member State should check with local authorities to confirm how these laws apply to them.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Catering

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department spent on refreshments in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

James Duddridge: The Department does not hold this data as it is not recorded at such a level.

Conditions of Employment

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that workers undertaking fixed-term work have their rights maintained following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

James Duddridge: Once we leave the EU we will no longer be bound by EU law but will be able to raise employment standards where it is right for the UK. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ensures that the rights and protections that workers in the UK currently enjoy will be retained when the UK leaves the EU. This applies to all workers, including fixed-term workers.

Treasury

Tax Avoidance

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 4 September 2019, official report, column 175, what the timescale is for the review into the Loan Charge; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government remains committed to tackling tax avoidance schemes based on Disguised Remuneration, but it has listened to concerns about the impact of the Loan Charge on individuals. I wrote to all MPs on 11th September with details of the independent review which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has commissioned to consider the impact of the Loan Charge. The Review will report back in mid-November, and the Government will set out its next steps at that point, in advance of the Loan Charge falling due on 31 January 2020. More information on the independent review is online at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/830989/loan_charge_review_web.pdf

Local Government: Corporation Tax

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to ensure a level playing field in local economies by making local authorities subject to corporation tax on commercial activity.

Jesse Norman: Commercial activity undertaken by local authorities carried on in a separate taxable subsidiary is already subject to Corporation Tax on profits.

Roadchef: Employee Benefit Trusts

Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake an inquiry into delays in resolving the dispute between HMRC and the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust.

Jesse Norman: The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury Ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.

Oil: Excise Duties

Melanie Onn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to reduce excise duty on UK produced petroleum.

Mr Simon Clarke: The government recognises that transport is a significant cost for households and businesses. That is why for the last nine years the government has frozen fuel duty at a cost of £53bn, saving the average car driver £1,000 compared to pre-2010 plans. All taxes remain under review with any future decision made as part of the normal Budget processes and in the context of the wider fiscal position.

Airports and Ports: North West

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions, what assessment he has made of potential delays for UK citizens travelling to and from the EU from (a) Holyhead port, (b) Liverpool John Lennon airport and (c) Manchester airport in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Jesse Norman: In preparation for EU Exit, the Border Delivery Group and Border Force have assessed 135 transport hubs across the United Kingdom, including these named locations. Based on this assessment, the Government does not expect material passenger delays at these locations as a result of leaving the EU. The Government is continuing to engage with local stakeholders across the UK to support their planning for a range of EU Exit scenarios.

Insurance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable worst case planning assumptions paragraph 16, what estimate he has made of the proportion of insurance payments from UK insurers into the EU which would be delayed in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and what estimate his Department has made of the potential length of any such delays.

John Glen: As the question notes, HMG’s Operation Yellowhammer planning assumptions are not a prediction, but a reasonable worst-case scenario. The specifics on the length and proportion of affected policies would depend on each individual case – by definition, any delays would relate to exceptional cases which therefore cannot be estimated. However, substantial progress has been made towards mitigating this risk. The Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report shows that UK insurers’ actions in restructuring their business have made good progress towards being able to service the majority of their £61 billion of EU liabilities after Brexit - £56 billion of this liability is expected to be addressed by 31 October. Temporary regimes announced by EU states are expected to further reduce the residual ‘at risk’ liabilities. The FCA expects insurers to let customers know if there will be any changes to the way policies are serviced after the UK leaves the EU. Information on gov.uk makes it clear that customers concerned about the status of their insurance policy should contact their provider.

UK Trade With EU

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the 95,000 non VAT registered companies estimated to need EORI numbers have registered for them.

Jesse Norman: To help businesses continue trading with customers and suppliers in the EU after Brexit, HMRC have automatically enrolled VAT-registered businesses that only trade with the EU for a UK EORI number (Economic Operator Registration and Identification). HMRC do not have the necessary information to register non VAT-registered businesses, but encourage them to follow the simple online application process, which takes less than 10 minutes. Since December 2018, HMRC has issued 171,000 live UK EORI numbers. This includes 88,000 VAT-registered businesses who were auto-enrolled in August 2019. HMRC cannot break down the number of live UK EORI registrations between VAT and non VAT-registered businesses. Many non VAT-registered businesses may not need a UK EORI number if they only move goods by post, provide services or only move goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland. If they use a parcel company to move goods, they should check with the parcel company whether they will need a UK EORI number.

Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion

Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion.

Jesse Norman: This government has taken significant action, including introducing 100 new measures tackling tax avoidance, evasion and other forms of non-compliance, since 2010, securing and protecting £200bn that would have otherwise gone unpaid and helping to bring the UK’s tax gap to a near record low of 5.6%.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Nuisance Calls

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of nuisance calls to UK numbers.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of nuisance calls.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proactive investigative capacity exists to support enforcement of laws against nuisance calling and associated business practices.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to (a) identify countries that are hotspots of illegal nuisance calling to the UK and associated business activity and (b) improve collaboration with regulators and other investigative and enforcement authorities in those countries.

Matt Warman: The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) takes the lead in tackling unsolicited live direct marketing calls and automated marketing message calls through its responsibility for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the regulator for telecommunications services in the UK and, in respect of nuisance calls, its focus is primarily on abandoned and silent calls. Ofcom will be releasing its most recent statistics following its nuisance calls consumer survey later this month. Information on this is available on its website at ofcom.org.ukThe Government has been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and we continue to work with regulators and industry on practical solutions to this problem. The Government has taken a range of recent actions to reduce the number of nuisance calls. The Government has banned cold calls from personal injury firms and pensions providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted. The Government has also introduced director liability for nuisance calls, meaning that the ICO can impose a fine of up to £500,00 on a company, its directors, or both where it establishes a breach has occurred (previously, only the company could be fined). This measure has enhanced the ICO’s regulatory effectiveness by raising the issue of unsolicited marketing at board level. The Government is also funding National Trading Standards to install call blocking devices in the homes of vulnerable people.The ICO has a dedicated team to investigate organisations making nuisance calls and take action when evidence supports enforcement action. The ICO has a joint action plan with Ofcom for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO also works closely with the Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Regulation Unit and the National Crime Agency to share intelligence and deter and penalize organisations and individuals responsible for the harm caused by nuisance calls. The ICO works with the Insolvency Service to ensure as much of the monetary penalties issued to those that are in breach of the rules is recovered.The ICO has arrangements with other countries to share information and intelligence about organisations potentially contravening UK law, including the PECR. It makes referrals to those countries where it identifies organisations making unlawful calls to UK subscribers, and has a number of such investigations ongoing at the present time. The ICO will continue to work with its counterparts including in countries where large numbers of nuisance calls are being made to the UK, in order to identify the offenders and solutions to the problem.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on implementing small-scale DAB radio.

Nigel Adams: DCMS brought forward detailed secondary legislation that will allow Ofcom to licence small-scale DAB radio multiplex services in June 2019. The small-scale Radio Multiplex and Community Digital Radio Order 2019 completed its Commons and Lords committee stages where it received cross party support. We expect the Order will shortly complete its final stage of a Motion from the House of Commons.The next phase is for Ofcom to complete the consultation on their plans to license small-scale DAB, using the new powers the Government is proposing, through Parliament, to give them. Ofcom expect to be able to publish a post-consultation Statement early next year, at which point Ofcom plan to begin the process of advertising new small-scale radio multiplex licences.

Television: Licensing

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the BBC's decision to change the eligibility criteria for free TV licences on the incomes of over-75s households in the UK.

Nigel Adams: The future of the over 75 concession is the responsibility of the BBC, not Government. We are very disappointed with the BBC’s decision to restrict the concession to only those aged over 75 in receipt of Pension Credit. The BBC published research from Frontier Economics in November 2018 which looked at the potential impact of changes to the concession on those aged 75 and over. This research is available here: https://www.frontier-economics.com/media/2896/bbc-licence-fee-report-nov-18.pdf

Internet: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech to the UN Assembly on 24 September 2019, what steps she is taking to develop a data framework for the internet of things to regulate the use of that data by companies.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to mitigate the risks of the internet of things surveillance raised by the Prime Minister in his speech to the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2019.

Nigel Adams: The Government takes the protection of personal data extremely seriously. The Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and the GDPR are in place to ensure that organisations who collect and use data do so lawfully and transparently. The rules included in the DPA 2018 and the GDPR impose strict obligations on organisations to process people’s data fairly and lawfully and to ensure that any data collected is held securely. Organisations must also ensure they have a legal basis for processing data, are clear and transparent about how personal data will be handled, and ensure that the data is processed in a way which individuals would expect. Organisations that fail to comply may be subject to enforcement action by the Information Commissioner’s Office. We have also issued a Code of Practice for organisations involved in the development, manufacturing and retail of products linked to the ‘Internet of Things’ to ensure that products are designed securely and keep consumers safe. In parallel, we have published consumer guidance to raise public awareness about setting-up, managing and improving the security of their consumer devices. The code of practice and guidance for consumers can be viewed at the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secure-by-design/code-of-practice-for-consumer-iot-security https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secure-by-design/consumer-guidance-for-smart-devices-in-the-home The Government also set up the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation last year to ensure that data and AI-driven innovations continue to deliver maximum benefits for society. The UK already benefits from a world-class regulatory regime, and the Centre will build on this by providing independent, expert advice on responding to the rapidly evolving way in which data is impacting our lives.

Culture: Urban Areas

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Government has made on its assessment of the merits of establishing a Town of Culture award.

Helen Whately: Creativity, arts and heritage make our towns and cities unique and our communities better places to live, and we should celebrate the rich local heritage and culture of towns across the UK. We are committing departmental resources to supporting and celebrating towns through delivering a range of effective and targeted policy interventions. These include the Cultural Development Fund, Heritage Action Zones, and the Discover England Fund, as well as continued support to our arms-length bodies, such as Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, many of which do great work to support culture in towns. We also believe that culture, as well as other sectors supported by DCMS have an important role to play in the development of local regeneration plans for towns that will be supported through the new multi-billion pound Towns Fund. The fund is at the heart of the Government’s commitment to leveling up our left behind places, to improve connectivity, provide vital social and cultural infrastructure, and boost growth. As we work with MHCLG to roll out the Towns Fund, we will consider the best way to highlight the great cultural offers many of our towns have, including whether and how this could build towards a potential Town of Culture competition.

Northern Ireland Office

Invest NI

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Northern Ireland Office will make it its policy to support Invest NI in hosting visits by Ambassadors to the UK to the Causeway Coast.

Julian Smith: Trade promotion is a devolved matter and we continue to work hard to restore a stable devolved government in Northern Ireland which can work with the UK Government to promote Northern Ireland's attractiveness for overseas investment and showcase all that Northern Ireland has to offer, including the Causeway Coast area. Arrangements for visits by Ambassadors are a matter for Invest NI and Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy, supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Business: Debts

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adopting the system used in England and Wales by which businesses can make claims against debtors who refuse to pay outstanding debts.

Julian Smith: This is a devolved matter and any system for businesses to make claims against debtors who have not paid their outstanding debts is one that is best considered by locally elected and accountable Ministers. It is for matters such as this that it is important that we get Stormont back up and running as soon as possible.

Northern Ireland Office: Civil Servants

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department made a cash payment to a civil servant as a result of offence allegedly caused by a royal portrait on display in the Northern Ireland Office.

Julian Smith: It would be inappropriate to comment on any individual case. The Northern Ireland Office, takes its responsibilities under Fair Employment legislation very seriously; the requirements of which are set out in the 1989 Fair Employment Code of Practice. The NIO also operates in line with the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland’s Guide ‘Promoting a Good and Harmonious Working Environment’. A portrait of the Queen, as head of state, is on display in the public area of Stormont House alongside a balanced set of images celebrating and reflecting the work of the Northern Ireland Office.

Women and Equalities

Assistance Animals

Sarah Champion: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Equality Act 2010, what steps the Government is taking to inform businesses and the service sector of the rights of assistance dogs.

Victoria Atkins: I refer the Hon.Member for Rotherham to the answer I gave her today, UIN: 290800.

Assistance Animals

Sarah Champion: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010 in relation to assistance dogs.

Victoria Atkins: I refer the Hon. Member for Rotherham to the answer I gave her today, UIN: 290801.

Gender Recognition Act 2004: Public Consultation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 consultation.

Victoria Atkins: We had an exceptionally high number of responses to the consultation we ran on the Gender Recognition Act, receiving over 100,000. We are now carefully considering all the information we have received and will report in due course.

Service Industries: Assistance Animals

Sarah Champion: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Equality Act 2010, what steps the Government is taking to inform businesses and the service sector of the rights of assistance dogs.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on businesses and other service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve disabled people’s access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) statutory code of practice for services sets out examples of making reasonable adjustments for assistance dogs and in 2017, the EHRC published their updated guide for all businesses on assistance dogs. The guidance was produced in order to help businesses understand what they can do to comply with their legal duties under the Equality Act.The Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS), the equalities and human rights helpline, receives about 35,000 customer contacts a year, more than 60% of which concern disability issues. The EASS intervenes directly with or assists the complainant to take the problem up with the relevant service provider in many cases, including those involving assistance dogs.

Assistance Animals

Sarah Champion: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010 in relation to assistance dogs.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve disabled people’s access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. In the case of service providers this reasonable adjustment duty is an anticipatory duty therefore those who provide goods, facilities and services to members of the public are expected to anticipate the reasonable adjustments that disabled customers may require, including auxiliary aids.In recent years, case law has strengthened the equalities law for people with assistance dogs. There have been a number of significant cases brought under the Equality Act involving assistance dogs, which have been successfully litigated, for example, Bloch v Kassim (assistance dogs in taxis); Clutton and Williams v Pen-y-Bryn Group (assistance dogs in restaurants); and McCafferty v Miah (assistance dogs in shops).The Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS), the equalities and human rights helpline, receives about 35,000 customer contacts a year, more than 60% of which concern disability issues. The EASS intervenes directly with or assists the complainant to take the problem up with the relevant service provider in many cases, including those involving assistance dogs.

Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, what the timeframe is for her Department to table the regulations enabling opposite sex civil partnerships under the terms of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act to take place before the end of 2019.

Victoria Atkins: Holding answer received on 01 October 2019



My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade is required to exercise the power in the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act 2019 amending the eligibility criteria for civil partnerships so that the regulations come into force no later than 31 December 2019. The regulations will be laid later this year for the 31 December deadline.

Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, what progress is being made on proposals to allow married partners to convert to an opposite sex civil partnership without divorce under the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act.

Victoria Atkins: Holding answer received on 01 October 2019



The Government published a consultation on 10 July on proposals to allow opposite-sex married couples to convert to a civil partnership. The consultation closed on 20 August and we are considering the responses to this.